For the most part, the relevance of a research paper will largely be determined by its impact factor- i.e., the impact that it has on the greater world of science and the impressions that other people have of its findings. Typically speaking, the higher the impact factor of a journal, the more respected and credible a person’s papers are perceived.
If you’re hoping to get a better idea of the impact factor of your paper, here are a few of the most common methods to find out how:
1. Journal Impact Factor
In general, the most notable option when determining the overall impact factor of an article is the JIF – Journal Impact Factor. This particular rating system is determined by the number of times the articles have been cited in the subsequent year since publication, divided by the number of citable articles published, and is calculated by Clarivate Analytics.
All of this is done over the course of two years. It may not be something that you can check immediately, but it will be concise and accurate, and you can get an idea of how your paper’s JIF might look from current statistics.
2. CiteScore Metrics
This uses indicators from data in Scopus, which if you didn’t know, is the leading database of peer-reviewed literature. The calculations are based on the number of citations (whether that’s book chapters, articles, or reviews) over 4 years, then divided by the number of same document types indexed in Scopus within that timeframe. CiteScore metrics might take even longer than Journal Impact Factor, but there’s no doubt that it’s reliable and well worth the data it provides.
3. H-Index
Once an author-level metric, the h-index has become a popular option for several research publications and journals recently. This particular metric works by measuring the productivity and impact of a scientist, and with the way it’s generally worked out, it usually favours older journals. It can also be a little limited in terms of distinguishing between different authors, since most have single-digit indexes. Even so, it’s still worth having in your arsenal and considering.
What’s a good impact factor?
For the most part, if a score is higher than 3, the journal can be considered reputable. However, there is potential to go much higher than this. 10 and greater are considered to be excellent scores in pretty much any field, but not many papers manage to get such a high impact factor off the bat.
In fact, looking at the ratings and scores, you’ll find that the average is actually less than 1. Because of this, getting to 10 really is quite an achievement for most journals – and many will often consider 2 and above to be good as a result.
Is it worth getting rated?
For many individuals, the rating itself isn’t necessarily the factor that carries weight on its own – the act of being rated is just as important. After all, it takes a lot of investment in terms of time and effort to gain this type of accreditation, so many consider getting over the hurdles as an achievement in itself.