FW: BJP impact factor update from the Editor Br J Psychiatry. and the Impact Factor Song

[Eugene Garfield]

Dear All,

I thought you might like to know that the impact factor of the British
Journal of Psychiatry has now almost reached 6 (5.947). This leaves me
with mixed feelings as I do feel the impact factor is over-rated, but it
still remains a useful comparative measure that is difficult to replace.
Our figure represents a 44% rise since 2001 and although many people
feel that the impact factor of journals moves inexorably upwards as more
journals enter the system, it is not actually true. For example, the
Archives of General Psychiatry seems to have paid for being too esoteric
and has virtually the same impact factor as in 2001.    

I thought that, despite our best intentions, we are all in the Impact
Factory together and perhaps we need to have a British Journal of
Psychiatry song we could sing to our potential contributors, which I
know includes all of us, so here it is:    

 
The Impact Factory Song

There comes a time of year
Which for some yields joy and cheer
Whereas for others it brings gloom
And impending signs of doom
I refer to the end of June
It's the Impact Factor tune
Which we dance to tho' we fear
Its strains may cost us dear
In promoting our alliance
'Tween scholarship and science
And sometimes in defiance
We reject our weak reliance
On the star by which we steer
With each number crunching tear
 
But we have to play the game
As our authors will turn to blame
If we fail them in our quest
To be better than all the rest
Now's the time to attest
In the BJP you must invest
And fan our impact factor flame
By seeing papers you can claim
Really are the best
And once published and assessed
All will be impressed
'cross East, North, South and West
Let the world then bold proclaim
Each author's new found fame


Professor Peter Tyrer
Editor
British Journal of Psychiatry