Impact factor: a valid measure of journal quality?

@article{citeulike:113763, abstract = {OBJECTIVES: Impact factor, an index based on the frequency with which a journal's articles are cited in scientific publications, is a putative marker of journal quality. However, empiric studies on impact factor's validity as an indicator of quality are lacking. The authors assessed the validity of impact factor as a measure of quality for general medical journals by testing its association with journal quality as rated by clinical practitioners and researchers. METHODS: We surveyed physicians specializing in internal medicine in the United States, randomly sampled from the American Medical Association's Physician Masterfile (practitioner group, n = 113) and from a list of graduates from a national postdoctoral training program in clinical and health services research (research group, n = 151). Respondents rated the quality of nine general medical journals, and we assessed the correlation between these ratings and the journals' impact factors. RESULTS: The correlation between impact factor and physicians' ratings of journal quality was strong (r2 = 0.82, P = 0.001). The correlation was higher for the research group (r2 = 0.83, P = 0.001) than for the practitioner group (r2 = 0.62, P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Impact factor may be a reasonable indicator of quality for general medical journals.}, address = {Division of Medical Informatics \& Outcomes Research, Portland VA Medical Center and Oregon Health \& Science University, Portland VA Medical Center (P3MED) 3710 Southwest US. Veterans Hospital Road Portland, Oregon 97207, USA. sahas@ohsu.edu}, author = {Saha, S. and Saint, S. and Christakis, D. A. }, citeulike-article-id = {113763}, issn = {1536-5050}, journal = {J Med Libr Assoc}, keywords = {if, journal}, month = {January}, number = {1}, pages = {42--46}, posted-at = {2005-03-04 01:13:00}, priority = {0}, title = {Impact factor: a valid measure of journal quality?}, url = {http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12572533}, volume = {91}, year = {2003} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:113763 L3 - citeulike-article-id:113763 TI - Impact factor: a valid measure of journal quality? JF - J Med Libr Assoc VL - 91 IS - 1 SP - 42 EP - 46 AD - Division of Medical Informatics & Outcomes Research, Portland VA Medical Center and Oregon Health & Science University, Portland VA Medical Center (P3MED) 3710 Southwest US. Veterans Hospital Road Portland, Oregon 97207, USA. sahas@ohsu.edu SN - 1536-5050 N2 - OBJECTIVES: Impact factor, an index based on the frequency with which a journal's articles are cited in scientific publications, is a putative marker of journal quality. However, empiric studies on impact factor's validity as an indicator of quality are lacking. The authors assessed the validity of impact factor as a measure of quality for general medical journals by testing its association with journal quality as rated by clinical practitioners and researchers. METHODS: We surveyed physicians specializing in internal medicine in the United States, randomly sampled from the American Medical Association's Physician Masterfile (practitioner group, n = 113) and from a list of graduates from a national postdoctoral training program in clinical and health services research (research group, n = 151). Respondents rated the quality of nine general medical journals, and we assessed the correlation between these ratings and the journals' impact factors. RESULTS: The correlation between impact factor and physicians' ratings of journal quality was strong (r2 = 0.82, P = 0.001). The correlation was higher for the research group (r2 = 0.83, P = 0.001) than for the practitioner group (r2 = 0.62, P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Impact factor may be a reasonable indicator of quality for general medical journals. KW - if KW - journal AU - Saha, S AU - Saint, S AU - Christakis, DA PY - 2003/01// UR - http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12572533 ER -