Research methodology

1. The Impact Factor of Journals

2. Impact Factor (IF)
 The impact factor (IF) is a measure of the average number of
citations to articles published in journals, books, patent document,
thesis, project reports, newspapers, conference/seminar
proceedings, documents published in internet, notes and any
other approved documents.
 It is frequently used as an indirect means for the relative
importance of a journal within its field
 Higher impact factors are often deemed to be more important than
those with lower ones.
 The impact factor was devised by Eugene Garfield, the founder of
the Institute for Scientific Information.

3. Journal Impact Factor (JIF)
 Journal Impact Factor (JIF) of a journal is a measure reflecting the
yearly average number of citations to recent articles published in
that journal.
 It is measure of the relative importance of a journal within its field,
with journals of higher journal impact factors judged to be more
important than those with lower ones.
 JIf are calculated in Yearly/Half-yearly/Quarterly/Monthly for
those journals that are indexed in Journal Reference Reports (JRR).
 Impact factors are calculated yearly starting from 1975 for those
journals that are listed in the Journal Citation Reports.

4. Method of Calculation
 The journal impact factor relates to a specific time period; it is
possible to calculate it for any desired period.
 The Journal Reference Reports (JRR) show rankings of journals by
journal impact factor, by discipline, such as mechanical
engineering or human resource management.
 In a given period (Yearly/Half-yearly/Quarterly/Monthly), the
journal impact factor of a journal is the average number of
citations received per paper published in that journal during the
one or two (one or more) preceding periods.
Impact Factor Calculation

5.  For Ex: if a journal has an impact factor of 5 in 2009, then its
papers published in 2007 & 08 received 5 citations each on
average. The 2009 impact factor of a journal is calculated as
follows:
 A = number of times articles published in 2007 & 08 were cited by
journals, books, patent document, thesis, project reports,
newspapers, conference/seminar proceedings, documents
published in internet, notes and any other approved documents
during 2009
 B = total number of "citable items" published by that journal in
2007 & 08. ("Citable items" are usually articles, reviews,
proceedings, notes or any other documents pre-reviewed before
publishing it)
Impact Factor Calculation of JIF

6. Then the JIF Yearly, i.e., for 2009 Impact Factor = A/B.
 New journals, which are indexed from their first published issue,
will receive an impact factor after indexing it immediately.
 For Example, a journal published fist issue in June 2011, can get
Journal Impact Factor for July 2011 onwards.
Impact Factor Calculation of JIF

7.  The impact factor is used to compare different journals within a
certain field.
 The Web of Science indexes more than 11,000 science and social
science journals.
 It is possible to examine the impact factor of the journals in which a
particular person has published articles.
 This use is widespread, but controversial. Garfield warns about
the "misuse in evaluating individuals" because there is "a wide
variation from article to article within a single journal".
 IF have a large, influence on the way published scientific research is
perceived & evaluated. Some companies are producing false IF.
Uses of Impact Factor

8.  Numerous criticisms have been made regarding the use of IFs.
 The impact factor might not be consistently reproduced in an
independent audit.
 There is also a more general debate on the validity of the impact
factor as a measure of journal importance and the effect of policies
that editors may adopt to boost their impact factor.
 Other criticism focuses on the effect of the impact factor on behavior
of scholars, editors and other stakeholders.
 Others have criticized the impact factor more generally on the
institutional background, claiming that what is needed is not just its
replacement with more sophisticated metrics but a democratic
discussion on the social value of research assessment and the
growing precariousness of scientific careers.
Criticisms of impact factor