The significance of an impact factor: implications for the publishing community

The journal impact factor as a metric developed in the mid-1960s by Dr Euge ne Garfield and Dr Irving Sher, represents the influence that an 'average a rticle' published in a specific journal has on the scholarly discipline and audience that it serves. Originally intended to serve as an equalizer for use by the Institute for Scientific Information(R) (ISI(R)) in making compa rative evaluations of large and small journals in a particular discipline, the impact factor now has numerous applications for publishers, librarians, and researchers. Ideally, the journal impact factor should be seen by publ ishers as a useful tool in gauging the effectiveness of their publication p roduct in serving the needs of a particular scholarly community. The signif icance of a journal impact factor, its appropriate usage by the scholarly p ublishing community and its extension into the electronic environment are d iscussed.