Rising Publication Delays Inflate Journal Impact Factors
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2012 |
Outros Autores: | , |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | Repositório Institucional da UFRN |
Texto Completo: | https://repositorio.ufrn.br/jspui/handle/1/6246 |
Resumo: | Journal impact factors have become an important criterion to judge the quality of scientific publications over the years, influencing the evaluation of institutions and individual researchers worldwide. However, they are also subject to a number of criticisms. Here we point out that the calculation of a journal’s impact factor is mainly based on the date of publication of its articles in print form, despite the fact that most journals now make their articles available online before that date. We analyze 61 neuroscience journals and show that delays between online and print publication of articles increased steadily over the last decade. Importantly, such a practice varies widely among journals, as some of them have no delays, while for others this period is longer than a year. Using a modified impact factor based on online rather than print publication dates, we demonstrate that online-to-print delays can artificially raise a journal’s impact factor, and that this inflation is greater for longer publication lags. We also show that correcting the effect of publication delay on impact factors changes journal rankings based on this metric. We thus suggest that indexing of articles in citation databases and calculation of citation metrics should be based on the date of an article’s online appearance, rather than on that of its publication in print. |
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Tort, Adriano Bretanha LopesTARGINO, Zé H.AMARAL, Olavo B.2013-06-27T15:12:21Z2013-06-27T15:12:21Z2012-12-31TORT, A. B. L. ; TARGINO, Z. H. ; AMARAL, Olavo B. Rising Publication Delays Inflate Journal Impact Factors. Plos One, v. 7, p. e53374, 2012.1932-6203https://repositorio.ufrn.br/jspui/handle/1/6246Journal impact factors have become an important criterion to judge the quality of scientific publications over the years, influencing the evaluation of institutions and individual researchers worldwide. However, they are also subject to a number of criticisms. Here we point out that the calculation of a journal’s impact factor is mainly based on the date of publication of its articles in print form, despite the fact that most journals now make their articles available online before that date. We analyze 61 neuroscience journals and show that delays between online and print publication of articles increased steadily over the last decade. Importantly, such a practice varies widely among journals, as some of them have no delays, while for others this period is longer than a year. Using a modified impact factor based on online rather than print publication dates, we demonstrate that online-to-print delays can artificially raise a journal’s impact factor, and that this inflation is greater for longer publication lags. We also show that correcting the effect of publication delay on impact factors changes journal rankings based on this metric. We thus suggest that indexing of articles in citation databases and calculation of citation metrics should be based on the date of an article’s online appearance, rather than on that of its publication in print.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, e Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte.engPlos OneJournal impact factorsCalculation of citation metricRising Publication Delays Inflate Journal Impact Factorsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessreponame:Repositório Institucional da UFRNinstname:Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN)instacron:UFRNORIGINALTort_rising.pdfTort_rising.pdfapplication/pdf367994https://repositorio.ufrn.br/bitstream/1/6246/1/Tort_rising.pdfb5eca23035f1e4f038fddc47bbbf716eMD51LICENSElicense.txtlicense.txttext/plain; charset=utf-81748https://repositorio.ufrn.br/bitstream/1/6246/2/license.txt8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33MD52TEXTTort_rising.pdf.txtTort_rising.pdf.txtExtracted texttext/plain32985https://repositorio.ufrn.br/bitstream/1/6246/7/Tort_rising.pdf.txt082bacbe14674378cab5d662e85fa812MD57THUMBNAILTort_rising.pdf.jpgTort_rising.pdf.jpgIM Thumbnailimage/jpeg12904https://repositorio.ufrn.br/bitstream/1/6246/8/Tort_rising.pdf.jpge93a8cd573c6b32577ad4fd0740466acMD581/62462021-07-08 12:52:25.26oai:https://repositorio.ufrn.br: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Repositório de PublicaçõesPUBhttp://repositorio.ufrn.br/oai/opendoar:2021-07-08T15:52:25Repositório Institucional da UFRN - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN)false |
dc.title.pt_BR.fl_str_mv |
Rising Publication Delays Inflate Journal Impact Factors |
title |
Rising Publication Delays Inflate Journal Impact Factors |
spellingShingle |
Rising Publication Delays Inflate Journal Impact Factors Tort, Adriano Bretanha Lopes Journal impact factors Calculation of citation metric |
title_short |
Rising Publication Delays Inflate Journal Impact Factors |
title_full |
Rising Publication Delays Inflate Journal Impact Factors |
title_fullStr |
Rising Publication Delays Inflate Journal Impact Factors |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rising Publication Delays Inflate Journal Impact Factors |
title_sort |
Rising Publication Delays Inflate Journal Impact Factors |
author |
Tort, Adriano Bretanha Lopes |
author_facet |
Tort, Adriano Bretanha Lopes TARGINO, Zé H. AMARAL, Olavo B. |
author_role |
author |
author2 |
TARGINO, Zé H. AMARAL, Olavo B. |
author2_role |
author author |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Tort, Adriano Bretanha Lopes TARGINO, Zé H. AMARAL, Olavo B. |
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv |
Journal impact factors Calculation of citation metric |
topic |
Journal impact factors Calculation of citation metric |
description |
Journal impact factors have become an important criterion to judge the quality of scientific publications over the years, influencing the evaluation of institutions and individual researchers worldwide. However, they are also subject to a number of criticisms. Here we point out that the calculation of a journal’s impact factor is mainly based on the date of publication of its articles in print form, despite the fact that most journals now make their articles available online before that date. We analyze 61 neuroscience journals and show that delays between online and print publication of articles increased steadily over the last decade. Importantly, such a practice varies widely among journals, as some of them have no delays, while for others this period is longer than a year. Using a modified impact factor based on online rather than print publication dates, we demonstrate that online-to-print delays can artificially raise a journal’s impact factor, and that this inflation is greater for longer publication lags. We also show that correcting the effect of publication delay on impact factors changes journal rankings based on this metric. We thus suggest that indexing of articles in citation databases and calculation of citation metrics should be based on the date of an article’s online appearance, rather than on that of its publication in print. |
publishDate |
2012 |
dc.date.issued.fl_str_mv |
2012-12-31 |
dc.date.accessioned.fl_str_mv |
2013-06-27T15:12:21Z |
dc.date.available.fl_str_mv |
2013-06-27T15:12:21Z |
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.citation.fl_str_mv |
TORT, A. B. L. ; TARGINO, Z. H. ; AMARAL, Olavo B. Rising Publication Delays Inflate Journal Impact Factors. Plos One, v. 7, p. e53374, 2012. |
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv |
https://repositorio.ufrn.br/jspui/handle/1/6246 |
dc.identifier.issn.none.fl_str_mv |
1932-6203 |
identifier_str_mv |
TORT, A. B. L. ; TARGINO, Z. H. ; AMARAL, Olavo B. Rising Publication Delays Inflate Journal Impact Factors. Plos One, v. 7, p. e53374, 2012. 1932-6203 |
url |
https://repositorio.ufrn.br/jspui/handle/1/6246 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
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info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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openAccess |
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Plos One |
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Plos One |
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