How to calculate impact factor formula?

Asked by: scraper  |  Last update: August 30, 2026
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The Journal Impact Factor (JIF) measures the yearly average number of citations to recent articles published in a specific journal. It is calculated by dividing the number of citations in a specific year by the total number of citable items published in that journal during the preceding two years.

How do I calculate my impact factor?

The Impact Factor (IF) of an academic journal is calculated by dividing the number of citations received in a specific year to articles published in that journal during the two preceding years, by the total number of "citable items" (usually research articles and reviews) published in those same two years.

Is 3.7 a good impact factor for a journal?

In general, an impact factor of 10 or higher is considered remarkable, while 3 is good, and the average score is less than 1. 🍍 Who invented the impact factor? Eugene Garfield, the founder of the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), invented the measurement known as impact factor.

Is 20 a high impact factor?

Only a tiny fraction - 144 journals (less than 1%) - achieved an impact factor of 20 or above. Expanding to journals with impact factors of 10 or higher was still only about 2.3% of all journals. Overall, very high impact factors are quite rare, with most journals having impact factors below 2.

What is a 2.5 journal impact factor?

An Impact Factor of 2.5 means that, on average, the articles published one or two year ago have been cited two and a half times. Citing articles may be from the same journal; most citing articles are from different journals.

How to Calculate Journal Impact Factor Explained

24 related questions found

Is 3.4 a good journal impact factor?

The impact factor (IF) is a measure of the frequency with which the average article in a journal has been cited in a particular year. It is used to measure the importance or rank of a journal by calculating the times it's articles are cited. Journal with Impact factor with more than 2 can be considered good.

Is 7.6 a good impact factor?

In many disciplines, an impact factor of 7.5 is strong and indicates that the journal is influential within its area, but top-tier journals typically have impact factors that are higher, often in the range of 10 or more, especially in competitive fields like medicine, biology, or physics.

Is a 7 impact factor good or bad?

A good impact factor can vary by field, but in many scientific disciplines, an IF above 5 or 10 is often considered high.

What is a predatory journal?

A predatory journal is an exploitative academic publisher that prioritizes financial gain over scholarly integrity. They aggressively solicit submissions and charge high Article Processing Charges (APCs) while bypassing legitimate peer review, editing, and quality assurance.

What is meant by Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4 journals?

Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4 are quartile rankings (top 25% to bottom 25%) used to classify academic journals by prestige and impact within their field based on citation metrics (e.g., SJR, Impact Factor). Q1 journals are the highest-ranked/most prestigious, while Q4 are the lowest, with rankings usually provided by databases like Scopus or Web of Science.

Is 6.0 a good impact factor?

A "good" impact factor varies significantly by field. In general: 10+ is excellent,5-10 is very good, 3-5 is good, and 1-3 is average. However, these benchmarks differ dramatically between disciplines.

Which journal has the highest impact factor?

CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians holds the highest impact factor of any academic journal across all disciplines, often exceeding 200. It is a premier oncology journal that publishes reviews and guidelines rather than primary research.

Is 1.1 a good impact factor?

Medicine and Life Sciences: Journals with impact factors above 10 are considered prestigious. Physical Sciences: A good impact factor might range from 2 to 5. Social Sciences: Impact factors between 1 and 3 often indicate respected journals. Arts and Humanities: Even respected journals may have impact factors below 1.

What is a 5-year impact factor?

5-year Impact Factor

The 5-year journal Impact Factor is the average number of times articles from the journal published in the past five years have been cited in the JCR year. It is caclulated by dividing the number of citations in the JCR year by the total number of articles published in the five previous years.

How do you calculate impact?

We know that to determine the impact force, we have a formula: F = E/d, where F is the impact force, E is Kinetic Energy, and d is the distance travelled.

What is a good impact factor score?

A "good" journal impact factor (JIF) is highly relative to the specific field of study, but generally, an IF of 3 or higher is considered good. Scores above 10 are often deemed high-impact or prestigious in life sciences/medicine, while in many social sciences or humanities, a score above 1–2 is considered strong.

Which is better, Elsevier or Springer?

Key context: Elsevier manages over 2,700+ journals and owns platforms like Scopus and ScienceDirect, while Springer (Springer Nature) publishes around 3,000+ journals and operates SpringerOpen for fully open-access publishing. Both are COPE members and follow strict publication ethics.

Who are the top 5 journal publishers?

Top academic journal publishers in the world

  • Elsevier.
  • Springer Nature.
  • Wiley.
  • Taylor & Francis.
  • SAGE Publishing.
  • Oxford University Press.
  • IRAJ International Journals.
  • Cambridge University Press.

Is Mdpi Swiss or Chinese?

MDPI launched in 1996 as a non-profit institute for the promotion and preservation of the diversity of chemical compound samples. Founded in Basel, Switzerland, as a “Verein” under Swiss law, the abbreviation “MDPI” initially stood for “Molecular Diversity Preservation International”.

Is impact factor 6.4 good?

How good is an impact factor of 6.4 for a journal to publish? According to Clarivate Analytics, the top-ranked journal in the field of Oceanography (not counting an “Annual Review” journal) is 6.3, so an impact factor of 6.4 in that field would make it the very best in its field by that metric.

What is a high impact journal?

A "high-impact journal" is an academic or scientific publication that is highly influential in its field, meaning the articles it publishes are frequently cited by other researchers. These journals typically have rigorous peer-review processes, very high rejection rates, and are considered prestigious.

Who calculates the impact factor?

The Journal Impact Factor (JIF) is exclusively calculated and published by Clarivate, a data analytics company. They release the annual JIF in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR), which is accessible through their Web of Science database.

What is meant by Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4 journals?

Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4 are quartile rankings (top 25% to bottom 25%) used to classify academic journals by prestige and impact within their field based on citation metrics (e.g., SJR, Impact Factor). Q1 journals are the highest-ranked/most prestigious, while Q4 are the lowest, with rankings usually provided by databases like Scopus or Web of Science.

What does an impact factor of 10 mean?

An impact factor of 10 can be considered excellent – although unreachable in many categories – as in 2020 only 3.65% of the journals had an impact factor of 10 or higher. An impact factor of 10 isn't even the highest score though.

Is 3.0 a good impact factor?

Yes, a 3.0 impact factor is generally considered good and respectable. However, the exact meaning varies heavily by your specific academic field.