Impact Factor Jumps After the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic: A Retrospective Study in Rheumatology Journals

Abstract

"As the publishing sector continues to grow, the need to measure the quality of the produced science grows in parallel...." This assertion is extracted from a study that assessed the increment in the value of scientometric indexes when they were calculated using citations and open access publications in rheumatology journals.1

It’s Not All About the Journal Impact Factor

“…Increments in the JIF are partly a reflection of the ever-increasing volume of scientific publications. 4 This has not been clearly acknowledged in the paper by Mendoza-Lopez et al 1 Finally, as discussed hereafter, the present article does not take into consideration the fallacies of the JIF as a journal-level metric. 5 The JIF, a journal-level metric, is simply a ratio of the number of citations received by the journal to the number of citable items (articles or reviews) in the period of calculation (2 years or 5 years).…”

“…

We read with great interest the recent Panorama article that discussed the rise in the Journal Impact Factor ( JIF) of rheumatology journals and the potential effect of the coronavirus disease 19 pandemic in this rise. 1 Although there has definitely been a rise in the JIF of journals following the COVID-19 pandemic, there are concerns about some aspects of the paper that we wish to discuss in this letter. 2 First, the JIF is a copyrighted index of Clarivate.

…”

“…Therefore, the statement of Mendoza-Lopez et al that prospective authors should consider both the JIF and the rise in the JIF of journals before submitting their papers for consideration of publication may not be valid. 1 The JIF is notoriously prone to fluctuations, as shown by the historical rise in the JIF of Acta Crystallographica Section A from 2.0 to 49.9 in 2009 (the second highest at that time), and then back to ~2 from 2011 onward. 5 The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment clearly states that published research should be evaluated on its own merits rather than on the basis of arbitrary metrics such as the JIF of the journal where it has been published.…”