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Research Guides@Tufts

Measuring Research Impact

Learn about journal metrics, author metrics and altmetrics.

How is Journal Impact Measured?

Different metrics have been developed to quantify the quality and impact of a journal.  Each metric has its strengths and weaknesses and should be used in combination with other factors when evaluating a journal.

Impact Factor, developed in the 1960s, remains a commonly used measure of journal quality.  In recent years, other metrics have been developed to compete with, and overcome the flaws of, Impact Factor.

Impact Factor, Eigenfactor, Article Influence Score

Impact Factor (IF)
  • Frequency with which the 'average article' in a journal has been cited over a defined time period
  • Number of citations in the current year to articles published in the journal in the previous n years, divided by the total number of articles published in the journal in the previous n years
  • Cannot be used to compare journals from different subject fields
  • Available in Journal Citation Reports
Eigenfactor
  • Number of times articles published in a journal over the past 5 years have been cited, with citations from more influential journals weighted more than citations from less influential journals
  • Scaled so that scores for all journals in Journal Citations Reports sum to 100; score of 1 indicates that journal has 1% of total influence of all indexed journals
  • Estimation of how often a journal will be used by scholars
  • Can be used to compare journals from different subject fields
  • Available in Journal Citation Reports and freely accessible at Eigenfactor.org
Article Influence Score
  • Average influence of each of a journal's articles over the first 5 years after publication
  • Normalized so that mean article has score of 1
  • Measure of the average influence per article for a journal
  • Can be used to compare journals from different subject fields
  • Available in Journal Citation Reports and freely accessible at Eigenfactor.org

Find Metrics in Journal Citation Reports

Find Metrics for a Single Journal
  • Enter the journal title, or title word, in the search box on the JCR homepage, choosing from the list of options that appears as you type.
  • You will be brought to the Journal Profile page, where you can view Impact Factor, Eigenfactor, Article Influence score, and other key indicators.  Scroll down the Journal Profile page to view additional information, such as rank within subject category and citing relationships to other journals.
Compare Metrics for Multiple Journals in Journal Citation Reports:
  • Click on Browse Journals at the top of the JCR homepage.  Check off journals you wish to compare and then click Compare at the bottom right of the page.
  • Several metrics will be available to view, but click on Customize to change the displayed fields.
Find Metrics for a Subject Field:
  • Click on Browse Categories at the top of the JCR homepage, which will display the Categories by Group.  Click on See all 254 Categories to view individual disciplines.  Click on the category name to view metrics.
Export Metrics to Excel:
  • When viewing data, click on the export/download icon  on the right hand side of the page.
  •  Download as csv, which can be opened in MS Excel.  Please note:  You must be logged into your free Clarivate account in order to use this feature.

 

CiteScore, SNIP, SCImago Journal Rank

CiteScore
  • Average number of citations per document
  • Number of citations received in the current year to documents published in the journal in the previous 3 years, divided by the total number of documents published in the journal in the previous 3 years
  • All document types included in calculation, e.g. articles, letters, editorials, conference papers
  • Cannot be used to compare journals from different subject fields
  • Available in Scopus and freely accessible at Elsevier's Journal Metrics
SCImago Journal Rank (SJR)
  • Average number of weighted citations received in a given year by articles published in the previous 3 years
  • Citations from more prestigious journals weighted more than citations from less prestigious journals
  • Can be used to compare journals from different subject fields
  • Available in Scopus, and freely accessible at Elsevier's Journal Metrics and SCImago Journal & Country Rank
Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP)
  • Ratio of journal's citation count per article to citation potential of subject field
  • Single citation is given a higher value in fields where citations are less likely
  • Can be used to compare journals from different subject fields
  • Available in Scopus, and freely accessible at Elsevier's Journal Metrics and CWTS Journal Indicators

Find Metrics in Scopus

Find Metrics for a Single Journal
  • Click the Sources link at the top of the Scopus homepage.
  • Search for an individual journal title, or browse titles alphabetically or by subject category.
  • Click on the name of a title to view details about the CiteScore for that title.

Sources link on Scopus homepage

Screenshot of Scopus document search with Sources link highlighted

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