In June 2023, I received the news that, after 30 years of existence, the Journal of Manual and Manipulative Therapy was awarded a Clarivate Impact Factor (IF) of 2.0 and was ranked 98/226 (second Quartile; Q2) in the Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy, and Rehabilitation category [1]. This is a really exciting year for the journal as it follows the year 2019 when the Journal was indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection and received the Medline status. Both the Journal Medline status and IF reflect on the objectivity, credibility and contents quality, as well as the scientific performance of the Journal. This is not only an achievement for the Journal but a hallmark for Manual and Manipulative professionals. My thanks go to the previous Journal Editors, John Medeiros and Stanley Paris, Peter Huijbregts, Chad Cook and Dan Vaughn who paved the way for the Journal to record these successes and to the relentless work of the Journal Editorial Board and the more than 350 reviewers who volunteer their time and expertise to the Journal. I look forward to continuing working on strategies and development to keep improving the journal’s impact. These achievements translate into a marked rise in the Journal’s prestige and its consolidation as a journal of high scientific quality. However, stabilizing and raising our IF will only be possible if we appreciate what an IF means and how it can be improved.
Journal metrics: the Impact Factor
Scoring
The journal IF scoring system is based on the number of times an average article has been cited in the previous 2 years. It is calculated by the following formula: IF=A/B, where A is the total number of citations of journal articles in the 2 years before the year considered and B is the total number of items published in the 2 years before the year considered.
Impact factor interpretation
Since its introduction in 1975, the IF has gained popularity as a measure of scientific journals’ quality. It is claimed to be an indicator of a journal’s scientific quality and prestige and is generally used as a guide to select papers to read and where to publish. Each year, Journal Citation Reports (JCR) (currently owned by Clarivate Analytics) publishes impact factor lists, grouped by scientific areas, which cover the world’s most frequently cited peer-reviewed journals [2]. The IF is an accepted measure of a journal quality and remains the most popular metric to judge its scientific performance [3].
The primary purpose of the IF was to improve selection of library journal collections. In market research, it provides quantitative evidence for editors and publishers to compare their journals with others in the same subject category. Currently, it is used not only to evaluate and compare journal metrics but also to assess authors, institutions, and countries scientific performance. The IF is used by funding agencies, universities, and policymakers to select candidates for specific positions, choose winning grants, promote and reward faculty, establish scientific collaborations, select journals editors, and determine the scientific output in a ranking.
The IF has its limitations [2], and there are ongoing efforts to develop other scores to find optimal ways to evaluate journals’ contribution to science. Several alternative bibliometric measures have appeared over the past 20 years [4], including the 5-Year Impact Factor, the immediacy index, the cited half-life, the Eigenfactor score, the Article Influence score, and the SCImago Journal Rank [2,5]. The immediacy index reflects how often on average journal articles are cited in the same year of publication. The cited half-life reflects the period for which articles in a journal continue to attract citations. Open access journals and those covering rapidly growing fields will tend to display higher values on this metric.
All these metrics are based on citations, which are as indices of quality, and all have general and specific advantages and disadvantages [4,6]. Other alternative metrics, such as the number of downloads or number of views, are also far from perfect and prone to manipulation. Additionally, the IF is not an absolute measure of journal quality, but of its influence, and is not intended to serve as an indicator of the influence of individual papers.3 Despite these and other well-known concerns and criticisms, the IF remains universally used for the assessment of scientific output [2].
Why is this important for the journal and authors publishing in the journal?
Being indexed in MEDLINE with a Clarivate IF and ranked in Q2 are important criteria for a subset of our authors. Many authors are eager to gain an academic title, such as being promoted Professor at a university. Tenure and promotion committees follow specific procedures to select who meets criteria for specific academic titles. Some decide based on teaching quantitative reviews, curriculum vitae reviews, grants, and letters of recommendations. Most review publication records are scored based on Medline indexing, journal IF and ranking, with selected institutions considering only manuscripts published in Journals ranked in Q1 or Q2. Although not as prevalent in tenure and promotion committees in the United States, promotion committee processes are more common in Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East. It has been challenging for the Journal to attract submissions from international authors, but this seems to be evolving!
My thanks extend to our close partners, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists, The McKenzie Institute International and OMT-France for their continued support. Thank you also to our readership for your confidence in the Journal and support of our profession.
Biography
Jean-Michel Brismée, PT, ScD is Professor in the Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Science in Rehabilitation Sciences Programs at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, Texas. Dr. Brismée is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Manual and Manipulative Therapy.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
References
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