What is Impact Factor? Journal Metrics Explained for Researchers & Students
📌 What is Impact Factor and why does it matter in research publishing?
In this video, we simplify one of the most commonly used (and often misunderstood) journal metrics: the Journal Impact Factor (JIF).
Suppose you are a student, researcher, PhD scholar, or early-career academic. In that case, this explainer will help you understand what Impact Factor actually measures, who calculates it, why it varies across disciplines, and when it should — and should NOT — be used while evaluating journals.
📚 You’ll learn:
What Impact Factor really means
Who publishes it (Clarivate – Web of Science / JCR)
What counts as “citable items”
Why some fields naturally have higher/lower IF
Difference between 2-year and 5-year IF
Misuse of IF in academia (DORA & Leiden Manifesto)
Better alternatives: CiteScore, SJR, SNIP & article-level metrics
🧠 Why this matters:
Impact Factor influences journal reputation and publication decisions, but it should not be used to judge individual researchers or the quality of a single paper.
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👉 The Researcher’s Hub – Dr. Abhishek Kumar
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