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Publication delay adjusted impact factor: The effect of publication delay of articles on journal impact factor

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  • Guo, Xiaolong
  • Li, Xiaoxiao
  • Yu, Yugang

Abstract

The journal impact factor (JIF) has been questioned considerably during its development in the past half-century because of its inconsistency with scholarly reputation evaluations of scientific journals. This paper proposes a publication delay adjusted impact factor (PDAIF) which takes publication delay into consideration to reduce the negative effect on the quality of the impact factor determination. Based on citation data collected from Journal Citation Reports and publication delay data extracted from the journals’ official websites, the PDAIFs for journals from business-related disciplines are calculated. The results show that PDAIF values are, on average, more than 50% higher than JIF results. Furthermore, journal ranking based on PDAIF shows very high consistency with reputation-based journal rankings. Moreover, based on a case study of journals published by ELSEVIER and INFORMS, we find that PDAIF will bring a greater impact factor increase for journals with longer publication delay because of reducing that negative influence. Finally, insightful and practical suggestions to shorten the publication delay are provided.

Suggested Citation

  • Guo, Xiaolong & Li, Xiaoxiao & Yu, Yugang, 2021. "Publication delay adjusted impact factor: The effect of publication delay of articles on journal impact factor," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:infome:v:15:y:2021:i:1:s1751157720301474
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joi.2020.101100
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Jingda Ding & Dehui Du, 2023. "A study of the correlation between publication delays and measurement indicators of journal articles in the social network environment—based on online data in PLOS," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(3), pages 1711-1743, March.
    4. Sun, Zhuanlan & Liu, Sheng & Li, Yiwei & Ma, Chao, 2023. "Expedited editorial decision in COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1).
    5. Sylvia, Sean & Rozelle, Scott, 2021. "Publishing and assessing the research of economists: Lessons from public health," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).

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