What exactly is the impact factor(IF)? Put simply: IF is a rough indicator for the quality of a journal in a narrowly defined discipline, e. g Agriculture Plant sciences Molecular biology It is silly to compare impact factors between disciplines, e.g., Ecology and Molecular Biology More accurately: IF is the number of citations of all papers published in a journal over two years divided by number of papers published in the preceding two years, e.g IF for 2001: (number of citations in 2001+2000)/(number of papers published in 2000+1999)What exactly is the “impact factor” (IF)? • Put simply: IF is a rough indicator for the quality of a journal in a narrowly defined discipline, e.g., – Agriculture – Plant sciences – Molecular biology • It is silly to compare impact factors between disciplines, e.g., Ecology and Molecular Biology • More accurately: IF is the number of citations of all papers published in a journal over two years divided by number of papers published in the preceding two years, e.g., – IF for 2001: (number of citations in 2001+2000)/(number of papers published in 2000+1999)