However, like the journal impact factor, even the h index has its limitations, and it is advisable for you to mention a combination of citation metrics—the impact factor of journals in which you have published, your h index, and other article-level metrics—on your grant applications or statements of purpose, so as to give people a holistic view of your impact as a researcher. What is a good impact factor of a journal? The table below shows the number and percentage of journals that were assigned impact factors ranging from 0 to 10+. I also explain what the Journal Impact Factor or JIF calculated by Journal Citation Reports (JCR) is and I describe how to learn about and compare the impact factors of journals in particular disciplines. 14, © 2020 The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Approximately two-thirds of the journals tracked by JCR have a 2017 impact factor equal to or greater than 1. MD Anderson faculty and staff can also request a one-on-one consultation with a librarian or scientific editor. Manuscript Editing The calculation for the 2018 JIF of a particular journal therefore requires counting all citations that refer to the journal’s 2016 and 2017 articles. In most fields, the impact factor of 10 or greater is considered an excellent score while 3 is flagged as good and the average score is less than 1. Veterinary Science Editing For this reason, the impact factors of journals cannot be compared in meaningful ways across disciplines, but a journal can be productively compared with other journals in the same JCR subject category to determine what a good impact factor for a journal in the category may be. Our scientific editing, medical editing, bioscience editing, life science editing, environmental science editing, pharmaceutical science editing, physical science editing, agricultural science editing, LaTeX paper editing, social science editing, political science editing, engineering paper editing, psychology editing, research paper editing, manuscript editing, humanities editing, journal article editing, biomedical science editing, planetary science editing, plant science editing, material science editing, veterinary science editing, behavioural science editing and neurosurgery editing services for authors of scientific papers and reports are especially popular, but we also excel at book editing and have the experience and expertise to proofread and edit books and papers of all kinds across every scholarly discipline. Some of our carefully trained editors and proofreaders work exclusively on PhD thesis editing, master’s dissertation proofreading, bachelor’s dissertation proofreading, thesis editing, dissertation editing, thesis proofreading and dissertation proofreading, applying their education and instructional skills in providing thesis editing and dissertation proofreading services that help advanced students to improve the formatting and language of their theses and dissertations and thereby increase their chances of degree success. This indicates that the articles published by the journal received, on average, four citations each, but in reality citations are unevenly distributed and review articles usually earn far more than research articles do. Economics Editing Humanities Editing Thesis Editing Services Chemistry Paper Editing Economics Editing By using this metric you can basically evaluate and compare the journals in similar subject categories to identify their importance. Research Paper Editing In most fields of study a JIF of 10 or greater is excellent and in many anything over a JIF of 3 is considered good, but it is essential to remember that JCR impact factors for journals vary markedly across disciplines. 1 Rank Journal Title ISSN Impact Factor 1 CA -A CANCER JOURNAL FOR CLINICIANS 0007 9235 187.040 2 NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE 0028-4793 72.406 3 NATURE REVIEWS DRUG DISCOVERY 1474-1776 57.000 4 CHEMICAL REVIEWS 0009-2665 47.928 Dissertation Editing For the annual JIF, JCR captures all the citations made during a single year to the articles published by a journal in the two preceding years. Book Editing Impact Factors are useful, but they should not be the only consideration when judging quality. Approximately two-thirds of the journals tracked by JCR have a 2017 impact factor equal to or greater than 1. Planetary Science Editing If you are in the process of preparing an article for an academic or scientific journal, or planning one for the near future, you may well be interested in a new book, Guide to Journal Publication, which is available on our Tips and Advice on Publishing Research in Journals website. In other areas, a JIF as high as 50 has never been achieved and likely never will be simply because citation practices and patterns will not allow it. The total is then divided by the number of citable items published by the journal in those two years to arrive at the current year (2018) JIF, which is released in 2019. The top 5% of journals have impact factors approximately equal to or greater than 6 (610 journals or 4.9% of the journals tracked by JCR). Plant Science Editing In many cases a JIF of 4 could be very good indeed, and some journal editors aim for that number, but for certain journals it might be no more than acceptable or ordinary, whereas for others it would be considered exceptional. There can be no doubt that a journal with a JIF near 250 receives an extremely large number of citations and boasts an exceptionally high JIF, even for the sciences where citations tend to be more immediate and frequent than in the humanities. JOURNAL REJECTION AS INSPIRATION FOR A NEW PERSPECTIVE, Professional English Proofreading and Editing Services, English Editing and Proofreading Services, Journal Article Editing and Proofreading Services, Dissertation Editing and Proofreading Service, Professional Dissertation Editing Services, Scientific Manuscript Proofreading Services, Scientific Manuscript Editing Services Free, Best Scientific Manuscript Editing Services, Academic and Scientific Proofreading and Editing Services, Advice & Discussions on Preparing & Submitting Journal Articles for Publication, Tips and Advice on Publishing Research in Journals, 72 Examples of Research Paper Topics in 18 Different Study Areas, Responding to Peer Reviewer Comments: A Free Example Letter.