The Journal Impact Factor is a value created by Eugene Garfield and Irving Sher that applies to a specific journal rather than an individual researcher.
The Impact Factor is an indicator of the significance of a scientific article measured by the average citation frequency of articles published in a specific journal. This has been used since 1961 and represents an independent assessment of a journal, its prospects, and the value of its articles. The Impact Factor is calculated annually by the Institute for Scientific Information and published in the Journal Citation Reports.
The calculation of the Impact Factor does not include Letters to the Editor, scientific news/book reviews, reference work, author comments, or editorial notes.
Calculation of the Journal Impact Factor:
Number of citations in 2024:
How to find a journal’s impact factor
As each analytical IT platform uses its own scientometric tools, the journal impact factor can be found on the official websites of well-known international databases where these publications are indexed.
Where can I reliably view a journal’s impact factor?
- On the journal’s website
- In the Web of Science Core Collection Database
- Using the Journal Citation Reports tool
Visit the Web of Science Platform
Web of Science Core Collections
Journal Citiation Reports
The impact factor, a numerical measure of a journal’s citation rate, was developed exclusively for the Web of Science (WOS) platform. Only journals indexed in WOS can have an impact factor. Journals from the Scopus database do not have an impact factor unless they are also indexed in WOS.
Not all journals have an impact factor! This metric applies only to journals included in the WOS Core Collection, specifically in the following two databases within that core: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) and Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI). Additionally, impact factors are calculated for journals included in RSCI and some other databases. For example, for journals in the abstract database Scopus, the relevant metric is the journal’s CiteScore.
Information about a Journal’s Impact Factor in the Web of Science Core Collection
There are two methods that can be used to determine a journal’s impact factor in the Web of Science Core Collection:
- Use the search by publication name, first selecting the Web of Science Core Collection database.
In the list of publications that appears, click on the journal title.
2. Use the Journal Citation Reports to access reports on journal citations.
