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Journals that increase their impact factor at least fourfold in a few years: The role of journal self-citations

Author

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  • Antonia Andrade

    (Universidad de Alcalá)

  • Raúl González-Jonte

    (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria de Cantoblanco)

  • Juan Miguel Campanario

    (Universidad de Alcalá)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to ascertain the possible effect of journal self-citations on the increase in the impact factors of journals in which this scientometric indicator rose by a factor of at least four in only a few years. Forty-three journals were selected from the Thomson—Reuters (formerly ISI) Journal Citation Reports as meeting the above criterion. Eight journals in which the absolute number of citations was lower than 20 in at least two years were excluded, so the final sample consisted of 35 journals. We found no proof of widespread manipulation of the impact factor through the massive use of journal self-citations.

Suggested Citation

  • Antonia Andrade & Raúl González-Jonte & Juan Miguel Campanario, 2009. "Journals that increase their impact factor at least fourfold in a few years: The role of journal self-citations," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 80(2), pages 515-528, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:80:y:2009:i:2:d:10.1007_s11192-008-2085-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-008-2085-9
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lidia González & Juan Miguel Campanario, 2007. "Structure of the impact factor of journals included in the Social Sciences Citation Index: Citations from documents labeled “editorial material”," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 58(2), pages 252-262, January.
    2. Juan Miguel Campanario & Lidia González & Cristina Rodríguez, 2006. "Structure of the impact factor of academic journals in the field of Education and Educational Psychology: Citations from editorial board members," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 69(1), pages 37-56, October.
    3. Guang Yu & Liang Wang, 2007. "The self-cited rate of scientific journals and the manipulation of their impact factors," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 73(3), pages 321-330, December.
    4. Wolfgang Glänzel & Henk F. Moed, 2002. "Journal impact measures in bibliometric research," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 53(2), pages 171-193, February.
    5. Frandsen, Tove Faber, 2007. "Journal self-citations—Analysing the JIF mechanism," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 47-58.
    6. Steven M. Shugan, 2002. "The Mission of Marketing Science," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(1), pages 1-13.
    7. Juan Miguel Campanario & Lidia González, 2006. "Journal self-citations that contribute to the impact factor: Documents labeled “editorial material” in journals covered by the Science Citation Index," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 69(2), pages 365-386, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Juan Miguel Campanario & Antonio Molina, 2009. "Surviving bad times: The role of citations, self-citations and numbers of citable items in recovery of the journal impact factor after at least four years of continuous decreases," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 81(3), pages 859-864, December.
    2. Victoria Bakare & Grant Lewison, 2017. "Country over-citation ratios," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 113(2), pages 1199-1207, November.
    3. Stefan N. Groesser, 2012. "Dynamics of Journal Impact Factors," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 624-644, November.
    4. Jerome K. Vanclay, 2012. "Impact factor: outdated artefact or stepping-stone to journal certification?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 92(2), pages 211-238, August.
    5. Juan Miguel Campanario & Jesús Carretero & Vera Marangon & Antonio Molina & Germán Ros, 2011. "Effect on the journal impact factor of the number and document type of citing records: a wide-scale study," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 87(1), pages 75-84, April.
    6. Juan Miguel Campanario, 2010. "Distribution of changes in impact factors over time," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 84(1), pages 35-42, July.
    7. Juan Miguel Campanario, 2018. "Journals that Rise from the Fourth Quartile to the First Quartile in Six Years or Less: Mechanisms of Change and the Role of Journal Self-Citations," Publications, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-15, November.
    8. Francisco González-Sala & Julia Osca-Lluch & Julia Haba-Osca, 2019. "Are journal and author self-citations a visibility strategy?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 119(3), pages 1345-1364, June.

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