JIFs in general
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Journal Impact Factors (JIF) are relatively simple bibliometric
parameters of journals, based on citations received by the journal during
recent years, but they are quite important as a measure of the (relative)
scientific status of a journal.
- While many derivatives and alternatives exist (based on longer periods
or other databases like e.g. Google Scholar), the 'official' JIFs were
originally created by - and are still defined by - the
Journal Citation Reports
published by Thomson Reuters ISI Web of Knowledge. Although this database
contains over 9,000 journals, many thousands of journals are not (yet)
represented and thus do not feature an 'official' JIF.
- Journal Citation Reports are published once a year, generally in June.
Currently the most recent JIFs are those for the year 2010.
- For more information on the uses and misuses of the JIF, see e.g.
Schoonbaert D, Roelants G.
Citation analysis for measuring the value of scientific publications: quality
assessment tool or comedy of errors? Tropical Medicine and International
Health 1996; 1: 739-752.
The Library &
Information Science database contains thousands of references to JIFs and
other bibliometric issues articles, the full text of which is available
from the library.
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JIFs at ITG
-
To access Journal Citation Reports: use ISI
Web of Knowledge => Select a Database => Journal Citation Reports.
The ISI WoK is not an open access database, but ITG does have a paid subscription.
- A list with the most current JIFs of some 300 journals ITG staff have published
in since 2006 can be found on the ITG
Library website.
- Recently a tool to easily survey and calculate the JIF values of recent
selections of ITG publications has become available on the
ITG Intranet
=> Ondersteunende diensten => Bibliotheek => JIF-publicaties.
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H-indexes
-
Also the H-index ('Hirsch' index) is a relatively simple bibliometric
parameter, basically indicating the volume of more or less highly cited
publications for a specific author. A H-index of 28 indicates that the author
has published at least 28 articles that have each been cited at least 28
times within the ISI Web of Knowledge system.
- As with the JIF, many variants exist, but the 'official' H-index needs
to be based on the ISI WoK data. Of course, H-indexes can also be calculated
for groups of authors or for journals.
- The Web of Science component of the
ISI WoK contains a handy
Create Citation Report feature that for your search results (e.g.
articles by a specific author) automatically calculates a number
of bibliometric parameters, including the H-index. Needless to say,
this is a computer generated result that needs to be controlled manually for
homonyms and other inaccuracies.
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