Open AccessHow to Become an Informed Research Consumer: Evaluating Journal Impact Factors and Their Alternatives
Author(s) -
Barbora Hoskova,
Courtney A. Colgan,
Betty S. Lai
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
psi chi journal of psychological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2325-7342
pISSN - 2164-8204
DOI - 10.24839/2325-7342.jn25.4.304
Subject(s) - impact factor , psychology , quality (philosophy) , task (project management) , metric (unit) , public relations , applied psychology , marketing , political science , epistemology , law , management , business , economics , philosophy
Approximately two million scientific research articles are published in journals worldwide each year (Altbach & De Wit, 2018). As a result, identifying relevant and high-quality journal articles can be an overwhelming task. journal impact factors are one metric for assessing the quality of research journals and articles. To help you become a more informed research consumer, this article will explore some common questions about journal impact factors. We begin with an explanation of Journal impact factors and their origins, followed by some critiques of journal impact factors, alternative ways of assessing publication quality, and the applications of this information to your work in psychology.