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The Garfield impact factor, one of the fundamental indicators in scientometrics

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  • Péter Vinkler

    (Hungarian Academy of Sciences)

Abstract

The paper summarizes some basic features of the Garfield impact factor (GF). Accordingly, GF should be regarded as a scientometric indicator representing the relative contribution of journals to the total impact of information in a field. For calculating GF, both from theoretical and practical reasons the “ratio of the sums” method is recommended over the “mean of the ratios” method. Scientific advances are made by the most influential, presumably most frequently cited articles. The distribution of citations among the publications is skewed in journals. Consequently, the GF index will be influenced primarily by the highly cited papers. It follows, GF represents the most valuable part of the information in journals quantitatively, and even therefore it may be regarded as a reliable impact indicator.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:92:y:2012:i:2:d:10.1007_s11192-012-0688-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-012-0688-7
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    Cited by:

    1. Vinkler, Péter, 2014. "The use of the Percentage Rank Position index for comparative evaluation of journals," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 340-348.
    2. 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.
    3. Vinkler, Péter, 2013. "Would it be possible to increase the Hirsch-index, π-index or CDS-index by increasing the number of publications or citations only by unity?," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 72-83.
    4. Keshra Sangwal, 2013. "Some citation-related characteristics of scientific journals published in individual countries," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 97(3), pages 719-741, December.
    5. Kurakova, Natalia (Куракова, Наталия) & Zinov, Vladimir (Зинов, Владимир) & Komarov, Vladimir (Комаров, Владимир) & Pavlov, Pavel (Павлов, Павел), 2014. "Long-term projections as a tool for the formation of science and technology policy [Долгосрочные Прогнозы Как Инструмент Формирования Научно-Технологической Политики]," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 4, pages 7-32.
    6. Finardi, Ugo, 2013. "Correlation between Journal Impact Factor and Citation Performance: An experimental study," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 357-370.
    7. András Schubert & Gábor Schubert, 2018. "Whatever happened to Garfield’s constant?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 114(2), pages 659-667, February.

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