Falagas, ME; Charitidou, E; Alexiou, VG Article and journal impact factor in various scientific fields AMERICAN JOURNAL OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES, 335 (3): 188-191 MAR 2008

[Eugene Garfield]

E-mail Address: falagas at aibs.gr 

Author(s): Falagas, ME (Falagas, Matthew E.); Charitidou, E (Charitidou, 
Eustratia); Alexiou, VG (Alexiou, Vangelis G.) 

Title: Article and journal impact factor in various scientific fields 

Source: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES, 335 (3): 188-191 MAR 
2008 

Language: English 

Document Type: Article 

Author Keywords: research productivity; evaluation; research funding 

Abstract: Background: We tried to provide the scientific community with 
data to answer the following simple question: What proportion of 
publications in the various scientific fields is published in journals 
with impact factor above the median and mean values of the distribution of 
journal impact factor? Methods: We analyzed and compared the distribution 
of the impact factor data reduced to the unit of science publication, the 
article. We calculated the proportion of articles published in journals 
with impact factor above the journal mean impact factor, journal median 
impact factor, and article mean impact. Results: For all categories 
examined, at the article level, the mean impact factor was higher than the 
median (by 13.7% to 500% for the various scientific categories). The mean 
impact factor of journals was considerably lower than the mean impact 
factor of articles (by 0.3 to 6.4 units). The proportion of articles that 
were published in journals with impact factor above the journals' median 
impact factor was well above 50% in 17 of 19 scientific fields examined 
(all except mathematics and computer science). Significance: Our analysis 
shows that in most scientific fields examined, it is quite easier to 
publish an article in the top 50% of journals (based on impact factor 
calculations) than it is for the article to be included in the top 50% of 
published articles (based on the assumption made regarding the article' 
impact factor).
 
Addresses: Alfa Inst Biomed Sci, Athens, Greece; Tufts Univ, Sch Med, Dept 
Med, Boston, MA 02111 USA 

Reprint Address: Falagas, ME, Alfa Inst Biomed Sci, 9 Neapoleos St, 
Maroussi 15123, Greece. 

Cited Reference Count: 10 

Times Cited: 0 

Publisher: LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS 

Publisher Address: 530 WALNUT ST, PHILADELPHIA, PA 19106-3621 USA 

ISSN: 0002-9629 

29-char Source Abbrev.: AMER J MED SCI 

ISO Source Abbrev.: Am. J. Med. Sci. 

Source Item Page Count: 4 

Subject Category: Medicine, General & Internal 

ISI Document Delivery No.: 277OS 

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