Zitt, M; Small, H Modifying the journal impact factor by fractional citation weighting: The audience factor JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, 59 (11): 1856-1860 SEP 2008

[Eugene Garfield]

E-mail Address: zitt at nantes.inra.fr; henry.small at thomsonreuters.com 

Author(s): Zitt, M (Zitt, Michel); Small, H (Small, Henry) 

Title: Modifying the journal impact factor by fractional citation 
weighting: The audience factor 

Source: JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND 
TECHNOLOGY, 59 (11): 1856-1860 SEP 2008

Language: English 

Document Type: Article 

Keywords Plus: FIELD-NORMALIZATION; CROSS-FIELD; PERFORMANCE; INDICATORS; 
TOOL 

Abstract: A new approach to the field normalization of the classical 
journal impact factor is introduced. This approach, called the audience 
factor, takes into consideration the citing propensity of journals for a 
given cited journal, specifically, the mean number of references of each 
citing journal, and fractionally weights the citations from those citing 
journals. Hence, the audience factor is a variant of a fractional citation-
counting scheme, but computed on the citing journal rather than the citing 
article or disciplinary level, and, in contrast to other cited-side 
normalization strategies, is focused on the behavior of the citing 
entities. A comparison with standard journal impact factors from Thomson 
Reuters shows a more diverse representation of fields within various 
quintiles of impact, significant movement in rankings for a number of 
individual journals, but nevertheless a high overall correlation with 
standard impact factors. 

Addresses: INRA La Geraudiere, Lereco, Dept SAE2, U1134, F-44316 Nantes, 
France; OST, F-75006 Paris, France; Thomson Reuters, Philadelphia, PA 
19104 USA 

Reprint Address: Zitt, M, INRA La Geraudiere, Lereco, Dept SAE2, U1134, La 
Geraudiere BP71627, F-44316 Nantes, France. 

E-mail Address: zitt at nantes.inra.fr; henry.small at thomsonreuters.com 

Cited Reference Count: 24 

Times Cited: 0 

Publisher: JOHN WILEY & SONS INC 

Publisher Address: 111 RIVER ST, HOBOKEN, NJ 07030 USA 

ISSN: 1532-2882 

DOI: 10.1002/asi.20880
 
29-char Source Abbrev.: J AM SOC INF SCI TECHNOL 

ISO Source Abbrev.: J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci. Technol. 

Source Item Page Count: 5 

Subject Category: Computer Science, Information Systems; Information 
Science & Library Science 

ISI Document Delivery No.: 339MV 

BERGSTROM C
COLL RES LIB NEWS 68 : 2007 

BIGLU MH
The influence of references per paper in the SCI to Impact Factors and the 
Matthew Effect 
SCIENTOMETRICS 74 : 453 DOI 10.1007/s11192-007-1815-8 2008 

BOLLEN J
Journal status 
SCIENTOMETRICS 69 : 669 2006 

FASSOULAKI A
Impact factor bias and proposed adjustments for its determination 
ACTA ANAESTHESIOLOGICA SCANDINAVICA 46 : 902 2002 

GARFIELD E
CITATION INDEXING IT : 1979 

GARFIELD E
CITATION ANALYSIS AS A TOOL IN JOURNAL EVALUATION - JOURNALS CAN BE RANKED 
BY FREQUENCY AND IMPACT OF CITATIONS FOR SCIENCE POLICY STUDIES
SCIENCE 178 : 471 1972 

GARFIELD E
Random thoughts on citationology. Its theory and practice - Comments on 
theories of citation? 
SCIENTOMETRICS 43 : 69 1998 

GLAENZEL W
SCIENTOMETRICS 53 : 171 2002 

KODRZYCKI YK
0512 FED RES BANK BO : 2005 

MARSHAKOVASHAIKEVICH I
The standard impact factor as an evaluation tool of science fields and 
scientific journals 
SCIENTOMETRICS 35 : 283 1996 

MOYAANEGON F
SJR SCIMAGO J COUNTR : 2007 

MURUGESAN P
VARIATION OF NATURE OF CITATION MEASURES WITH JOURNALS AND SCIENTIFIC 
SPECIALTIES
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE 29 : 141 1978 

PALACIOSHUERTA I
The measurement of intellectual influence 
ECONOMETRICA 72 : 963 2004 

PINSKI G
CITATION INFLUENCE FOR JOURNAL AGGREGATES OF SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS - 
THEORY, WITH APPLICATION TO LITERATURE OF PHYSICS
INFORMATION PROCESSING & MANAGEMENT 12 : 297 1976 

PUDOVKIN AI
P ASIST ANNU 41 : 507 2004 

ROUSSEAU R
Median and percentile impact factors: A set of new indicators 
SCIENTOMETRICS 63 : 431 DOI 10.1007/s11192-005-0223-1 2005 

SCHUBERT A
Cross-field normalization of scientometric indicators 
SCIENTOMETRICS 36 : 311 1996 

SEN BK
DOCUMENTATION NOTE NORMALIZED IMPACT FACTOR 
JOURNAL OF DOCUMENTATION 48 : 318 1992 

SMALL H
CLUSTERING THE SCIENCE CITATION INDEX USING CO-CITATIONS .1. A COMPARISON 
OF METHODS 
SCIENTOMETRICS 7 : 391 1985 

SOMBATSOMPOP N
A modified method for calculating the Impact Factors of journals in ISI 
Journal Citation Reports: Polymer Science Category in 1997-2001 
SCIENTOMETRICS 60 : 217 2004 

VINKLER P
Subfield problems in applying the Garfield (Impact) Factors in practice 
SCIENTOMETRICS 53 : 267 2002 

WEST J
EIGENFACTOR DETAILED : 2008 

ZITT M
Relativity of citation performance and excellence measures: From cross-
field to cross-scale effects of field-normalisation 
SCIENTOMETRICS 63 : 373 DOI 10.1007/s11192-005-0218-y 2005 

ZITT M
DEVELOPMENT OF A METHOD FOR DETECTION AND TREND ANALYSIS OF RESEARCH 
FRONTS BUILT BY LEXICAL OR COCITATION ANALYSIS 
SCIENTOMETRICS 30 : 333 1994