C. Dumontier et al., Impact factor: do we have to choose between the impact factor and the Revue de Chirurgie Orthopedique?, REV CHIR OR, 87(2), 2001, pp. 115-128
Citations number
35
Categorie Soggetti
Ortopedics, Rehabilitation & Sport Medicine
Journal title
REVUE DE CHIRURGIE ORTHOPEDIQUE ET REPARATRICE DE L APPAREIL MOTEUR
It is common practice to evaluate the scientific value of a candidate for a
university or hospital position using the mean of the impact factors of th
e journals he/she has published in, This shows that the true composition an
d true meaning of the impact factor are not sufficiently understood. The im
pact factor was invented in the 60s to help librarians choose the most read
journals. The impact factor provides an accurate definition of the distrib
ution of a journal, but in no case the quality of its publications. Moreove
r, the impact factor has many technical limitations that are detailed in th
is article. This strongly limits the accuracy of the impact factor to compa
re between journals of different specialties. There is no correlation betwe
en the scientific value of a single author and the impact factor of the jou
rnals he/she has published in. Eugene Garfield, the inventor of the impact
factor, has emphasized that it should not be used to judge the scientific v
alue of a candidate.