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Characterization of the impact of sets of scientific papers: The Garfield (impact) factor

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  • Peter Vinkler

Abstract

The Garfield (Impact) Factor (GF) is one of the most frequently used scientometric indicators. In the present article it is shown that the main factors determining the value of the mean GF representing a set of journals are the number of articles published recently (articles referencing) related to those published in a previous time period (articles to be referenced) and the mean number of references in journal papers referring to the time period selected. It has been proved further that GF corresponds to the mean chance for citedness of journal papers. A new indicator, Specific Impact Contribution (SIC), is introduced, which characterizes the contribution of a subset of articles or a journal to the total impact of the respective articles or journals. The SIC index relates the share of a journal in citations divided by that in publications within a set of papers or journals appropriately selected. It is shown, however, that the normalized GFs of journals and the normalized SIC indicators are identical measures within any set of journals selected. It may be stated therefore that Garfield Factors of journals (calculated correctly) are appropriate scientometric measures for characterizing the relative international eminence of journals within a set of journals appropriately selected. It is demonstrated further that SIC indicators (and so GF indexes) correspond to the (number of citations per paper) indicators generally used, within the same set of papers.

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  • Peter Vinkler, 2004. "Characterization of the impact of sets of scientific papers: The Garfield (impact) factor," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 55(5), pages 431-435, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jamist:v:55:y:2004:i:5:p:431-435
    DOI: 10.1002/asi.10391
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    Cited by:

    1. Xiaojun Hu, 2007. "Relative Superiority Coefficient of papers: A new dimension for institutional research performance in different fields," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 72(3), pages 389-402, September.
    2. M. Zitt, 2011. "Behind citing-side normalization of citations: some properties of the journal impact factor," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 89(1), pages 329-344, October.
    3. P. Vinkler, 2010. "Indicators are the essence of scientometrics and bibliometrics," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 85(3), pages 861-866, December.
    4. Péter Vinkler, 2009. "Introducing the Current Contribution Index for characterizing the recent, relevant impact of journals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 79(2), pages 409-420, May.
    5. Péter Vinkler, 2012. "The Garfield impact factor, one of the fundamental indicators in scientometrics," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 92(2), pages 471-483, August.
    6. Elaine Aparecida Regiani Campos & Regina Negri Pagani & Luis Mauricio Resende & Joseane Pontes, 2018. "Construction and qualitative assessment of a bibliographic portfolio using the methodology Methodi Ordinatio," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(2), pages 815-842, August.
    7. Peter Vinkler, 2018. "Structure of the scientific research and science policy," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 114(2), pages 737-756, February.
    8. Ming-Yueh Tsay, 2009. "An analysis and comparison of scientometric data between journals of physics, chemistry and engineering," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 78(2), pages 279-293, February.
    9. João A G Moreira & Xiao Han T Zeng & Luís A Nunes Amaral, 2015. "The Distribution of the Asymptotic Number of Citations to Sets of Publications by a Researcher or from an Academic Department Are Consistent with a Discrete Lognormal Model," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(11), pages 1-17, November.
    10. Peter Vinkler, 2008. "Correlation between the structure of scientific research, scientometric indicators and GDP in EU and non-EU countries," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 74(2), pages 237-254, February.
    11. Vinkler, Péter, 2012. "The case of scientometricians with the “absolute relative” impact indicator," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 254-264.
    12. Zitt, Michel, 2010. "Citing-side normalization of journal impact: A robust variant of the Audience Factor," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 4(3), pages 392-406.
    13. Mingyang Wang & Shijia Jiao & Kah-Hin Chai & Guangsheng Chen, 2019. "Building journal’s long-term impact: using indicators detected from the sustained active articles," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 121(1), pages 261-283, October.
    14. Huang, Mu-Hsuan & Huang, Wei-Tzu & Chen, Dar-Zen, 2014. "Technological impact factor: An indicator to measure the impact of academic publications on practical innovation," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 241-251.
    15. Fiorenzo Franceschini & Domenico Maisano & Luca Mastrogiacomo, 2013. "Evaluating research institutions: the potential of the success-index," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 96(1), pages 85-101, July.
    16. Bar-Ilan, Judit, 2008. "Informetrics at the beginning of the 21st century—A review," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 1-52.
    17. Regina Negri Pagani & João Luiz Kovaleski & Luis Mauricio Resende, 2015. "Methodi Ordinatio: a proposed methodology to select and rank relevant scientific papers encompassing the impact factor, number of citation, and year of publication," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 105(3), pages 2109-2135, December.
    18. Péter Vinkler, 2011. "Application of the distribution of citations among publications in scientometric evaluations," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 62(10), pages 1963-1978, October.
    19. Alonso, S. & Cabrerizo, F.J. & Herrera-Viedma, E. & Herrera, F., 2009. "h-Index: A review focused in its variants, computation and standardization for different scientific fields," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 273-289.

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