Journal impact analyses the reach and influence of a journal. It is based on the citations of the article published within that journal and is best used to compare the relative scores compared to similar journals in that field.
Why is journal impact important?
Limitations:
Common Journal Metrics
The below table provides an overview of several common, journal-level metrics, their use and limitations, and where to find your own.
| Metric | Site | Use | Limitations |
| Journal Impact Factor (JIF) | Journal Citation Reports | The number of citations divided by the number of published items in a journal over a 2 year period |
Use only when comparing journals within the same discipline MH does not subscribe to this database |
| CiteScore | Scopus Preview |
Average number of weighted citations received in a year divided by number of documents published in the previous 3 years |
Use only when comparing journals within the same discipline |
| H index | Scimago | Indicates the number of papers (h) the journal has published that have been cited at least (h) times | Use only when comparing journals within the same discipline |
| SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) | Average number of weighted citations received in a year divided by number of documents published in previous 3 years | Does not provide information on newer journals (began in the last 4 years) |
Other journal level metrics include: Journal Citation Indicator, Source-Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP), Eigenfactor (EF), Google Scholar Metrics.
Recommended resources:
Examples