1. What is Journal Impact Factor?

The Journal Impact Factor (JIF) is a measure that reflects the yearly average number of citations to recent articles published in a journal. It is frequently used as a proxy for the relative importance of a journal within its field.

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the Impact Factor formula:

Where:

• \( Citations \) — Total number of citations in current year to items published in previous two years
• \( Citable Articles \) — Number of citable items published in previous two years

Explanation: The Impact Factor provides a quantitative assessment of a journal's influence by measuring how often its recently published articles are cited.

3. Importance of Impact Factor

Details: Impact Factor is widely used by researchers to identify important journals in their field, by librarians for collection development, and by institutions for evaluation and promotion decisions.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter the total number of citations and the number of citable articles. Both values must be valid (citations ≥ 0, citable articles > 0).

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What time period does Impact Factor cover?
A: Impact Factor is calculated for a specific year based on citations in that year to citable items published in the two preceding years.

Q2: What is considered a good Impact Factor?
A: Impact Factor values vary greatly by field. In some fields, an IF of 2-3 might be excellent, while in others, top journals may have IFs above 20.

Q3: Are there limitations to Impact Factor?
A: Yes, it can be influenced by journal self-citations, varies by research field, and doesn't reflect the quality of individual articles.

Q4: How often is Impact Factor updated?
A: Journal Impact Factors are typically updated annually by organizations like Clarivate Analytics in their Journal Citation Reports.

Q5: What are alternatives to Impact Factor?
A: Alternatives include CiteScore, SCImago Journal Rank, Eigenfactor, and article-level metrics like Altmetrics.