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To illustrate the chronological changes in
rankings for a group of related journals, consider the topic of mycology
which was reported recently in inCites for April 25, 2005. (http://incites.com/research/2005/april_25_2005-1.html)
inCites is a free ISI news bulletin. While the journal Medical Mycology
ranked 4th in 2004, it moved to 3rd place when five years of data were used
but 9th when 23 years of data were used. In addition to helping libraries
decide which journals to purchase, journal impact factors are also used by
authors to decide where to submit their articles. As a general rule, the
journals with high impact factors include the most prestigious. The
perception of prestige is a murky subject.
Some would equate prestige with high impact. However, some librarians argue
that the numerator in the impact-factor calculation is itself even more
relevant. Bensman argued that this 2-year total citation count is a better
guide to journal significance and cost-effectiveness than is the impact
factor. This brings us full circle to the first slide I showed you on the
most-cited journals.
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