Excerpt from : McBride R. "Impact factors for the Journal of Teaching in Physical Education - What are they and are they important? " JOURNAL OF TEACHING IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION 25 (1): 3-8 JAN 2006

[Eugene Garfield]

Ron McBride:  rmac at tamu.edu


TITLE  :  Impact Factors for the Journal of Teaching in Physical Education -
          What are they and are they important?

AUTHOR  : Ron McBride

SOURCE  : Journal of Teaching in Physical Education 25(1). p.3-8, January
2006.  Human Kinetics Publ. Inc.


EXCERPT FROM ABOVE PAPER:
Although the precise interpretation of impact factors has not been
definitively assessed, Harter and Nisonger (1997) note that most
researchers and scholars employ the term to state, or at least implicitly
assume it to represent, a measure of journal quality.  Christenson and
Sigelman (1985) associate impact factors with  a journal's scholarly
influence.  Rightly or wrongly, the higher a journal's impact factor, the
greater the perception of quality and prestige is accorded to that journal
by many members of the scholarly community.

Should the impact factor of the Journal of Teaching in Physical Education
(JTPE) be of concern to its constituents?  As a current member of the
Editorial Board and contributing author over the last 20 years, I must
respond with an unequivocal "Yes!" I answer in the affirmative not because
of an innate bias on my part, but because of Dilevko and Atkinson's (2002)
observation that when "a journal is cited frequently, [it] indicates that
scholars in the field deem it to be influential" (p.563). Ultimately, the
status of measure of import attached to any journal comes from the
community of scholars who acknowledge such status through cited articles.

In this editorial article I address the importance of JTPE's  impact factor
from both a personal and profession perspective, offer support for my
assessment, and provide suggestions for improving its impact factor.
Before proceeding it is important to note that, admittedly, the impact
factor represents just one indicator of assessed value, and a journal
should not necessarily be judged solely on this one measure.  Nevertheless,
because impact factors remain one of the most accepted and utilized
criteria for assessing journal quality in the scientific and educational
communities, they represent the focal point for this commentary.


Addresses: McBride R (reprint author), Texas A&M Univ, Dept Hlth &
Kinesiol, College Stn, TX 77843 USA Texas A&M Univ, Dept Hlth & Kinesiol,
College Stn, TX 77843 USA
Publisher: HUMAN KINETICS PUBL INC, 1607 N MARKET ST, CHAMPAIGN, IL 61820-
2200 USA IDS Number: 009NJ

ISSN: 0273-5024


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