[Sigmetrics] Validity of Journal IF

[Stephen J Bensman]

The journal IF is a valid measure because the place of the review article in the social structure of the scientific communication system.  It is for this reason that Garfield made it his key measure of journal quality.  Review journals generally have the highest IF.  In general you have to be invited to write a review article, and this is because journal editors know you.  I deal with this in my articles Garfield has posted on his Web site at the following URL:

http://www.garfield.library.upenn.edu/bensman/bensman.html



I have spent my career analyzing why Gene Garfield was so important.  Basically I am a historian, and the role of the historian is to make other people famous--not themselves.  He is also the grandfather of the Google search engine for showing that it is relations--not words--that are semantically correct.  I discuss these also matters on my Google citations page, which I have made public.  If you reads these materials, I hope that you decide that I have done him justice.


Respectfully,

Stephen J. Bensman, Ph.D.

LSU Libraries (Retired)
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