What is a Journal Impact Factor?
An impact factor is a measurement provided by Thomson Reuters looking at the average number of citations articles in a particular journal receives.
It is calculated by:
The number of times that all items published in a journal in the previous two years (e.g. 2012 & 2013) were cited by indexed publications during the year of interest (e.g. 2014)
divided by
The total number of "citable items" published by that journal in those two years (e.g. 2012 & 2013)
Finding a Journal Impact Factor
- Go to Web of Science
- In Web of Science - Click on the link at the top of the page for Journal Citation Reports.
- Start typing the name of the journal and choose from the list that appears:
Remember - not all journals are indexed by the Journal Citation Reports, so not all journals have an impact factor.
- You will then get an option to click on the Journal Profile, which includes the Impact Factor:
Find the highest impact journal in your area
- Click on Journals By Rank
- Click 'Select Category' and select the subject area closet to your own:
- Click Submit at the bottom of the screen.
- Scroll down to see the journals within the category, ranked by impact factor:
You can also find our further information from this short video tutorial from Thomson Reuters
If you are using impact factor to help you choose where to publish then watch our video on
Journal Impact Factors - use and misuse