Influence of COVID- 19 pandemic on impact factors of top biomedical journals.

IF 1.7 4区医学 Q2 MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL

Irish Journal of Medical Science Pub Date : 2025-04-12 DOI:10.1007/s11845-025-03954-z

Raju Vaishya, Anoop Misra, Rahul Singla, Sudhir Shekhawat, Abhishek Vaish, Filippo Migliorini

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: The number of active journals in scholarly publishing has steadily risen. The journal impact factor (JIF) is the most widely used metric for assessing the impact and prestige of a scientific journal. The COVID- 19 pandemic triggered a significant shift in the global academic landscape, particularly in biomedical research.

Aims: To systematically investigate the impact of COVID- 19 on the impact factor of top biomedical journals to address the existing knowledge gap on this matter.

Methods: Between 2019 and 2023, the impact factor of the top 20 biomedical journals listed in the 2023 Journal Citation Report (JCR) was analysed using a descriptive-analytical approach. Data on JIFs and publications, including COVID- 19-related articles, were collected from Clarivate's Web of Science and PubMed.

Results: JIFs of the top 20 biomedical journals increased significantly (83.4%) from 2019 to 2021, coinciding with a surge in COVID- 19 publications. This trend stabilised in 2022 but declined by 15.1% in 2023. The number of publications related to COVID- 19 peaked in 2021 (57.3%) and decreased by 12.5% in 2022 and 29.0% in 2023.

Conclusions: This study unveils a significant impact of COVID- 19 on the impact factor of top biomedical journals. The increase in JIFs during the pandemic aligns with the surge in COVID- 19 research, but the subsequent decline suggests a potential shift in research focus or knowledge saturation. The study underscores the limitations of JIF as a sole metric for evaluating journal quality and highlights the importance of alternative metrics.

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新冠肺炎疫情对顶级生物医学期刊影响因子的影响

背景：学术出版领域的活跃期刊数量稳步上升。期刊影响因子（JIF）是评估科学期刊影响力和声望的最广泛使用的指标。2019冠状病毒病大流行引发了全球学术格局的重大转变，特别是在生物医学研究领域。目的：系统调查2019冠状病毒病对顶级生物医学期刊影响因子的影响，以解决这方面的现有知识缺口。方法：采用描述分析法分析2019 - 2023年《2023期刊引文报告》（JCR）中排名前20位的生物医学期刊的影响因子。jif和出版物的数据，包括与COVID- 19相关的文章，从Clarivate的Web of Science和PubMed收集。结果：2019 - 2021年，排名前20位的生物医学期刊的综合影响因子显著增加（83.4%），与COVID- 19出版物的激增相一致。这一趋势在2022年趋于稳定，但在2023年下降了15.1%。与COVID- 19相关的出版物数量在2021年达到顶峰（57.3%），2022年下降12.5%，2023年下降29.0%。结论：新冠肺炎疫情对顶级生物医学期刊影响因子有显著影响。大流行期间联合研究基金的增加与COVID- 19研究的激增相一致，但随后的下降表明研究重点或知识饱和度可能发生变化。该研究强调了JIF作为评估期刊质量的唯一指标的局限性，并强调了其他指标的重要性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Irish Journal of Medical Science 医学-医学：内科

CiteScore

3.70

自引率

4.80%

发文量

357

审稿时长

4-8 weeks

期刊介绍： The Irish Journal of Medical Science is the official organ of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland. Established in 1832, this quarterly journal is a contribution to medical science and an ideal forum for the younger medical/scientific professional to enter world literature and an ideal launching platform now, as in the past, for many a young research worker. The primary role of both the Academy and IJMS is that of providing a forum for the exchange of scientific information and to promote academic discussion, so essential to scientific progress.