Author. Azizul Haque. He is a PhD Assistant Professor working in the Department of Biotechnology at Yeungnam University, South Korea. He wrote this article for the young researchers of Amra Biggani Org. Read more for details.
Impact Factor and CiteScore
Impact factor and CiteScore are two popular methods used to measure the importance and quality of academic journals. These metrics help researchers, institutions, and readers understand how frequently research papers published in a particular journal are cited by others.
Impact Factor:
Dr. Eugene Garfield first introduced the concept of the impact factor in the 1960s to measure the quality and significance of research. For this, he established the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), which later evolved into Clarivate. This metric is now provided by Clarivate Analytics and can be found in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR).
A journal’s impact factor is determined by dividing the total number of citations received by research papers published in the past two years by the total number of research papers published in that journal during the same two years. Only specific types of research papers, such as original articles and review papers, are considered.
For example, suppose the total number of citations for research papers published in a journal in 2021 and 2022 is 850, and the total number of research papers published in that journal over those two years is 115.
Then, Impact Factor = (Total number of citations for research papers published in 2021 and 2022) / (Total number of research papers published in 2021 and 2022)
= 850/115 = 7.39
CiteScore:
Compared to the impact factor, CiteScore is a relatively new metric, introduced in 2016 by Elsevier. Its aim was to provide a broader and more transparent metric that could assess the long-term impact of research.
This metric is provided by Elsevier’s Scopus database. CiteScore is determined mainly based on the research papers published in a journal over three years. For example, suppose the total number of citations for research papers published in a journal in 2020, 2021, and 2022 is 1,070, and the total number of research papers published in that journal during those three years is 155.
Then, CiteScore = 1070/155 = 6.90
Compared to the impact factor, CiteScore considers a wider range of documents, including research articles, review papers, conference papers, book chapters, and data papers.
Why is this important?
Both impact factor and CiteScore provide valuable information for determining the quality and significance of a journal. Impact factor is mainly useful for understanding a journal’s short-term value, whereas CiteScore offers a broader perspective, as it covers a longer period and considers more types of documents.
Author’s email address: [email protected]
On behalf of Amra Biggani Org, we wish ongoing success to Azizul Haque. He is a unique example for our young researchers.
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