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The Graduate School Reference Center

An online reference portal designed to provide information to faculty, researchers, and students in The Graduate School.

What is Journal Citation Reports?

Web of Science_JCR link

Citation and article counts are important indicators of how frequently current researchers are using individual journals. By tabulating and aggregating citation and article counts, JCR offers a unique perspective for journal evaluation and comparison.

Journal Citation Reports can show you the:

  • Most frequently cited journals in a field
  • Number of articles published in the journal from the years 2000-2007
  • Number of citations to that journal from articles published from 2000-2007
  • Highest impact journals in a field
  • Reports are generated from Web of Science: Science Edition and Social Science Edition

Quick Tour

Definitions

Table Definitions

 1.      Total Cites

The total number of citations to the journal in the JCR year.

 2.      Journal Impact Factor

The journal Impact Factor is the average number of times articles from the journal published in the past two years have been cited in the JCR year.

The Impact Factor is calculated by dividing the number of citations in the JCR year by the total number of articles published in the two previous years. An Impact Factor of 1.0 means that, on average, the articles published one or two year ago have been cited one time. An Impact Factor of 2.5 means that, on average, the articles published one or two year ago have been cited two and a half times. Citing articles may be from the same journal; most citing articles are from different journals.

Why is the Impact Factor the past two years?

  1. To average out classic articles that are always cited
  2. To find what is impacting the literature right now (hot topics)
  3. Balance out new journals verses older journals

3.      5-Year Journal Impact Factor

The 5-year journal Impact Factor is the average number of times articles from the journal published in the past five years have been cited in the JCR year. It is calculated by dividing the number of citations in the JCR year by the total number of articles published in the five previous years. The 5-year Impact Factor is available only in JCR 2007 and subsequent years.

4.      Immediacy Index

The Immediacy Index is the average number of times an article is cited in the year it is published.

5.      Half-Cited Life

The citing half-life is the median age of articles cited by the journal in the JCR year. Only journals that publish 100 or more cited references have a citing half-life. Cited-only journals do not have a citing half-life.

6.      Eigenfactor Metrics

Like the Impact Factor, the Eigenfactor™ Score and Article Influence™ Score use citation data to assess and track the influence of a journal in relation to other journals. Eigenfactor™ Metrics are available only for JCR years 2007 and later.

·         Eigenfactor Score

The Eigenfactor Score measures the number of times articles from the journal published in the past five years have been cited in the JCR year.