Machado, FA; Zaher, H. 2010. Pitfalls of artificial grouping and stratification of scientific journals based on their Impact Factor: a case study in Brazilian Zoology. ZOOLOGIA 27 (4): 493-502

[Eugene Garfield]

Machado, FA; Zaher, H. 2010. Pitfalls of artificial grouping and stratification of 
scientific journals based on their Impact Factor: a case study in Brazilian 
Zoology. ZOOLOGIA 27 (4): 493-502..

Author Full Name(s): Machado, Fabio A.; Zaher, Hussam
Language: English
Document Type: Article

Author Keywords: CAPES; IF; JIF; QUALIS; scientometry
KeyWords Plus: TAXONOMY

Abstract: The present contribution explores the impact of the QUALIS metric 
system for academic evaluation implemented by CAPES (Coordination for the 
Development of Personnel in Higher Education) upon Brazilian Zoological 
research. The QUALIS system is based on the grouping and ranking of scientific 
journals according to their Impact Factor (IF). We examined two main points 
implied by this system, namely: 1) its reliability as a guideline for authors; 2) if 
Zoology possesses the same publication profile as Botany and Oceanography, 
three fields of knowledge grouped by CAPES under the subarea "BOZ" for 
purposes of evaluation. Additionally, we tested CAPES' recent suggestion that 
the area of Ecology would represent a fourth field of research compatible with 
the former three. Our results indicate that this system of classification is 
inappropriate as a guideline for publication improvement, with approximately one 
third of the journals changing their strata between years. We also demonstrate 
that the citation profile of Zoology is distinct from those of Botany and 
Oceanography. Finally, we show that Ecology shows an IF that is significantly 
different from those of Botany, Oceanography, and Zoology, and that grouping 
these fields together would be particularly detrimental to Zoology. We conclude 
that the use of only one parameter of analysis for the stratification of journals, 
i.e., the Impact Factor calculated for a comparatively small number of journals, 
fails to evaluate with accuracy the pattern of publication present in Zoology, 
Botany, and Oceanography. While such simplified procedure might appeals to 
our sense of objectivity, it dismisses any real attempt to evaluate with clarity 
the merit embedded in at least three very distinct aspects of scientific 
practice, namely: productivity, quality, and specificity.

Addresses: [Machado, Fabio A.; Zaher, Hussam] Univ Sao Paulo, Museu Zool, 
BR-04263000 Sao Paulo, Brazil

Reprint Address: Zaher, H, Univ Sao Paulo, Museu Zool, Ave Nazare 481, BR-
04263000 Sao Paulo, Brazil.

E-mail Address: hzaher at usp.br
ISSN: 1984-4670
DOI: 10.1590/S1984-46702010000400002
fulltext: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S1984-
46702010000400002&script=sci_arttext