Journal of Stroke, a journal by the Korean Stroke Society, ranked No. 1 in journal impact factor (JIF) among local journals registered in Web of Science, including Science Citation Index (SCI), Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), and Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI).
JIF gauges the yearly average number of citations to recent articles published in a journal. The measure reflects the journal’s status and research power.
Hong Seong-tae, publishing director at the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences, analyzed the JIF 2018 results announced by Clarivate Analytics on June 21 and wrote a report about the JIF of local journals on the KAM’s e-newsletter in July.
According to Hong, 41 among 264 journals by the members of the Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors (KAMJE), or 15.5 percent, were registered in either SCIE or SSCI. The number accounts for 33.3 percent of the nation’s total of 123 journals in the science and technology sector. Among the 41 journals, two in the medical sector scored higher than 5 in JIF.
Journal of Stroke had the highest JIF with 5.571 among domestic journals.
Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Research ranked second with 5.021. In the allergy sector, it came at sixth among 27 journals.
In the non-medicine sector, Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry topped the JIF with 4.978.
Among the 41 journals registered in SCIE or SSCI, Korean J Pain and Saf Health Work received JIF for the first time.
Of the total journals on Web of Science, CC_A Cancer J Clinicians recorded the highest JIF with 223.674.
In the medical sector, N Engl J Med boasted the best JIF with 70.670, followed by Lancet with 59.102, JAMA with 51.273, BMJ with 27.604, Ann Int Med with 19.315, and PLOS Med with 11.048.
In science, Nature’s JIF stood at 43.070, Science, 41.037, and Cell, 36.216.
“Thomson used to operate Web of Science, but a giant capital firm Clarivate paid massive money to acquire it. Science citation index information has become a goose that lays golden eggs,” Hong said.
The subscription fees for Web of Science and Journal Citation Reports (JCR) are surging every year, and top JIF ranking journals set their subscription prices at high levels to make hefty profits jointly, he explained further.
“It is lamentable that minority journals, researchers, and libraries are desperate to get JIF. Critics say we should improve the practice of evaluating a paper by the JIF score of the journal that the paper is published, rather than the researcher’s excellence in study or the content of the paper, and they have a point,” Hong said.
Despite such criticism, however, there was no other measure than JIF to assess a journal around the world accurately, he noted.
“Local journals should try harder to be listed in the international index system and get more citations. Being cited means contributing academically, which is the exact role of a journal,” Hong said.