History of the journal impact factor: Contingencies and consequences

Éric Archambault; Vincent Larivière

doi:10.1007/s11192-007-2036-x

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Scientometrics

Volume/Issue:: Volume 79: Issue 3

History of the journal impact factor: Contingencies and consequences

Authors:

Éric Archambault

Éric Archambault

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Vincent Larivière

Vincent Larivière

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Pages:: 635–649

Online Publication Date:: 01 Feb 2009

Publication Date:: 01 Jun 2009

Article Category:: Research Article

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-007-2036-x

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Abstract

This paper examines the genesis of journal impact measures and how their evolution culminated in the journal impact factor (JIF) produced by the Institute for Scientific Information. The paper shows how the various building blocks of the dominant JIF (published in the Journal Citation Report - JCR) came into being. The paper argues that these building blocks were all constructed fairly arbitrarily or for different purposes than those that govern the contemporary use of the JIF. The results are a faulty method, widely open to manipulation by journal editors and misuse by uncritical parties. The discussion examines some solution offered to the bibliometrics and scientific communities considering the wide use of this indicator at present.

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Scientometrics

Print ISSN:: 0138-9130

Online ISSN:: 1588-2861

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Scientometrics
Language	English
Size	B5
Year of Foundation	1978
Volumes per Year	1
Issues per Year	12
Founder	Akadémiai Kiadó
Founder's Address	H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
Publisher	Akadémiai Kiadó Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Publisher's Address	H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245. CH-6330 Cham, Switzerland Gewerbestrasse 11.
Responsible Publisher	Chief Executive Officer, Akadémiai Kiadó
ISSN	0138-9130 (Print)
ISSN	1588-2861 (Online)