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Journal influence factors

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  • Franceschet, Massimo

Abstract

We performed a thorough comparison of four main indicators of journal influence, namely 2-year impact factor, 5-year impact factor, eigenfactor and article influence. These indicators have been recently added by Thomson Reuters to the Journal Citation Reports, in both science and social science editions, and are thus available for study and comparison over a sample of significative size. We find that the distribution associated with the eigenfactor largely differs from the distribution of the other surveyed measures in terms of deviation from the mean, concentration, entropy, and skewness. Moreover, it is the one that best fits to the lognormal theoretical model. Surprisingly, the eigenfactor is also the most variable indicator when computed across different fields of science and social science, while article influence is the most stable in this respect, and hence the most suitable metric to be used interdisciplinarily. Finally, the journal rankings provided by impact factors and article influence are relatively similar and diverge from the one produced by eigenfactor, which is closer to that given by the total number of received citations.

Suggested Citation

  • Franceschet, Massimo, 2010. "Journal influence factors," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 4(3), pages 239-248.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:infome:v:4:y:2010:i:3:p:239-248
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joi.2009.12.002
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    2. Chang, Chia-Lin & McAleer, Michael & Oxley, Les, 2013. "Coercive journal self citations, impact factor, Journal Influence and Article Influence," Mathematics and Computers in Simulation (MATCOM), Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 190-197.
    3. Chia-Lin Chang & Michael McAleer & Les Oxley, 2012. "Journal Impact Factor, Eigenfactor, Journal Influence and Article Influence," KIER Working Papers 822, Kyoto University, Institute of Economic Research.
    4. Chia-Lin Chang & Michael McAleer & Les Oxley, 2010. "Journal Impact Factor Versus Eigenfactor and Article Influence," KIER Working Papers 737, Kyoto University, Institute of Economic Research.
    5. Bouyssou, Denis & Marchant, Thierry, 2011. "Bibliometric rankings of journals based on Impact Factors: An axiomatic approach," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 75-86.
    6. Chia-Lin Chang & Michael McAleer & Les Oxley, 2011. "Great Expectatrics: Great Papers, Great Journals, Great Econometrics," Econometric Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(6), pages 583-619.
    7. Waltman, Ludo, 2016. "A review of the literature on citation impact indicators," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 365-391.
    8. Juan Miguel Campanario, 2011. "Empirical study of journal impact factors obtained using the classical two-year citation window versus a five-year citation window," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 87(1), pages 189-204, April.
    9. Lee, Hakyeon & Shin, Juneseuk, 2014. "Measuring journal performance for multidisciplinary research: An efficiency perspective," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 77-88.
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    11. Mark R. Elkins & Christopher G. Maher & Robert D. Herbert & Anne M. Moseley & Catherine Sherrington, 2010. "Correlation between the Journal Impact Factor and three other journal citation indices," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 85(1), pages 81-93, October.
    12. Walters, William H., 2014. "Do Article Influence scores overestimate the citation impact of social science journals in subfields that are related to higher-impact natural science disciplines?," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 421-430.
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