1. What is Journal Impact Factor?

The Journal Impact Factor (JIF) is a measure of the frequency with which the average article in a journal has been cited in a particular year. It is used to measure the importance or rank of a journal by calculating the times its articles are cited.

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the Journal Impact Factor formula:

Where:

• \( citations\_two\_years \) — Number of citations received in the past two years
• \( articles\_two\_years \) — Number of articles published in the past two years

Explanation: The JIF represents the average number of citations per article published in the journal during the two preceding years.

3. Importance of Journal Impact Factor

Details: JIF is widely used as a metric for evaluating the relative importance of journals within their fields. Higher impact factors are often associated with more prestigious journals.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter the number of citations received in the past two years and the number of articles published in the same period. The number of articles must be at least 1.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What is a good Journal Impact Factor?
A: This varies by field. In general, JIF above 10 is considered excellent, 3-10 is good, and below 3 is average to low.

Q2: How often is JIF calculated?
A: JIF is calculated annually and released in Journal Citation Reports by Clarivate Analytics.

Q3: What are limitations of JIF?
A: JIF doesn't account for article quality, can be skewed by a few highly cited papers, and varies across disciplines.

Q4: Can JIF be compared across different fields?
A: No, citation practices vary widely between fields. JIF should only be compared within the same discipline.

Q5: What's the difference between JIF and CiteScore?
A: CiteScore uses a 3-year window for citations and is calculated by Scopus, while JIF uses 2 years and comes from Web of Science.