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Over the decades, epistemologists and theorists of tourism have devoted considerable efforts in laying the foundations towards the discipline maturation. This so-called maturation would take the lead when tourism situated not only as a solid object of study but also professional publications reach a the scientific rigorism. The number of publications in the tourism fields has certainly been triplicated in the recent years, but today tourism has many barriers to become in a consolidated option. This happens because of many reasons. One of them associated to the problem of impact factor, the invention of academic prestige and the bibliometric studies. We, in this short note of research, explore the impossibilities, limitations and problems of the current tourism research which remains culturally embraced to impact factor logic. To put things in bluntly, the current obsession for impact factor in the academy is gradually leading the discipline into an unparalleled crisis.

As in every field of scientific research, publication of new findings is a fundamental task of botanical investigations. Since its launching in 1944, Botanical Sciences (formerly Boletín de la Sociedad Botánica de México), the scientific periodical of the Botanical Society of Mexico, has played a major role in the dissemination of botanical knowledge, with a strong emphasis on Mexican plants and vegetation. In this essay, whose preparation was propelled by the publication of the 100th Volume of Botanical Sciences in 2022, we revisit this scientific periodical’s trajectory for almost eight decades of activity, during which it has become an honorable member of an international assembly of journals devoted to publishing research in all botanical subdisciplines. On this ground, we reflect on its future, pondering the challenges it faces, the need to adjust to emerging circumstances, and the opportunities created by current national and international editorial practices. Additionally, we provide a brief overview of the contents of the contributions included in this Special Issue, with emphasis on the main conclusions drawn by their authors. We hope that these articles will become key references guiding future work in their respective botanical subdisciplines.

The Ambiente & Água Journal has adopted strategies in recent years to increase its relevance within the international scientific community. The results of CiteScore, recently released for the triennium ending in 2020, indicate that the journal’s strategies are starting to show good results. Evidence of an increase in the proportion between the number of citations received versus the number of documents published is corroborated by the impact indicators from other sources, such as the Scimago Journal Rank (SJR) and Leiden University’s Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) Impact per Publication (IPP). Also positive is the fact that the journal's impact is increasing even with the increase in the number of papers published, contrary to the strategy adopted by some journals that limit the number of papers in order to increase the journal's impact.

What is a high-impact factor journal? Is it essential to publish in high-impact journals? These questions repeatedly arise in academic conversations, congresses, and workshops, and, indeed, they are relevant.

Mexico has over 23,300 vascular plant species, half of which are endemic, and ranks third in species richness in the Americas. Compiling checklists and floras, and examining phylogenetic relationships are the ways we develop a better understanding of species richness. The plant checklist and the metadata of the sequences in GenBank can help determine how well represented Mexico’s vascular flora is, using the taxonomic and systematic studies done in Mexico and internationally. We formulated eight questions related to biological aspects, bibliometric indicators, methods, and the markers used in phylogenetic studies for species distributed in Mexico. The list of Mexico’s vascular species published in taxonomy and systematics articles was used to extract GenBank’s metadata using Datataxa. The selection, filtering, and descriptive statistics were obtained with scripts designed for this study. We found that 12,589 species have sequence records in GenBank, published in 3,807 articles. The journal Systematic Botany has more than 400 publications. The number of authors ranges from 1 to 6. Average impact factor was 1.64. Magnoliophyta, Poales, and Poaceae have the highest number of published articles. Parsimony and ITS are the most widely used method and marker, respectively. We explore the importance of Mexico as a biological repository for understanding the evolution of plants in global science. This is the first study on the importance of a country’s flora in phylogenetic work. Numerous groups and endemic species lack sequencing data that could contribute to the resolution of different lineages in the phylogeny.

This protocol justifies the relevance of the research questions that will be posed in future research that will address whether there are differences between the classifications of scientific journals depending on the impact factor indicators that are used: WoS (JCR ), and Scopus (CiteScore and SJR) and, if any, to what may be due. At the same time, the process to be followed to capture and analyze the data that will allow us to respond to the stated objectives is described in detail. Finally, the results of a pilot analysis focused on the 21 top journals of International Human Resources Management according to Caligiuri (1999) are presented. In it, we can verify that the correlation between JCR and CiteScore is practically perfect and that the quartiles of Scopus represent in a much more appropriate way than those of JCR the classification of these 21 as top journals of the category. It is still pending to carry out the complete investigation to verify if these results are generalizable to the field of economic and business sciences in global or to other sub-areas of this field. ---------------------- [Protocolo: ¿existe acuerdo o desacuerdo entre los índices de impacto absolutos y relativos obtenidos a partir de los datos de Web of Science y Scopus?En este protocolo se justifica la pertinencia y relevancia de las preguntas de investigación que se van a plantear en una investigación futura que tratará si existen diferencias entre las clasificaciones de las revistas científicas dependiendo de los indicadores de factor de impacto que se manejen: WoS (JCR) y Scopus (CiteScore y SJR) y, en caso de haberlas, a qué puede ser debido. Al mismo tiempo, se describe de manera detallada el proceso a seguir para capturar y analizar los datos que nos permitirán responder a los objetivos planteados. Finalmente, se presentan los resultados de un análisis piloto centrado en las 21 revistas principales de Gestión de Recursos Humanos según Caligiuri (1999). En él, podemos comprobar que la correlación entre JCR y CiteScore es prácticamente perfecta y que los cuartiles de Scopus representan de manera mucho más adecuada que los de JCR la clasificación de estas 21 como revistas principales de la categoría. Queda pendiente realizar la investigación completa para comprobar si estos resultados son generalizables al campo de ciencias económicas y empresariales en global o a otras sub-áreas de ése campo. Palabras clave: Protocolo; Revistas de impacto; Análisis de citas; bibliometría.]

The aim of this paper is to analyse a) the logic and functioning of scientific publishing as a global figuration and b) the researcher model underlying this figuration. Scientific publishing is a phenomenon which involves researchers, universities, research institutions, the State, publishing houses, and scientific information and indexation companies, their internal connections and their balances of power. At the same time, a discourse exists which legitimizes scientific publishing in accordance with particular criteria on internationalization, dissemination, and recognition and which prescribes a model of behaviour. Finally, the article reflects on the consequences of this discourse in terms of the production, distribution, and utilization of knowledge in a semi‑peripheral country such as Portugal.

Objective: analyze the intellectual production on pediatric peripheral venous catheterization available in the database Scopus. Method: bibliometric study focused on the electronically registered production between 1969 and 2018, using descriptive statistical analysis. Results: 213 articles were retrieved, published in 123 journals. Nursing contributed with 21 (9.8%) articles in the health area. The United States led the ranking with 92 articles (43.1%). The study shows the limitations of the WebQualis journal ranking, showing that 41 (33.36%) journals are not part of any Qualis level. Conclusion: the data elaborated in this study measured the contribution of the scientific knowledge deriving from the publications about catheterization. Therefore, its indicators can be useful for the planning and execution of further studies, and for the scientific community’s knowledge on the system it is part of.

To evaluate the growth of our journal, Ciencias Marinas, over the years since its inclusion for indexing in 2 major international databases, we performed a joint analysis of 8 bibliometric indicators: impact factor, source normalized impact per paper (SNIP), CiteScore, SCImago Journal Rank (SJR), cites per document, total cites, percent international collaboration, and h-index. In general, 6 of the 8 indicators suggest that growth for Ciencias Marinas can be qualified somewhere between satisfactory and good. The other 2 indicators, SNIP (1999–2017) and SJR (2010–2017), did not show significant changes for the time period analyzed.

Educational growth is a fundamental infrastructure factor required to achieve sustainable development. Therefore, evaluation and measurement of educational growth is essential for establishing a development road map. Because of this, there are many organizations and databases that work to capture academic trends and provide the general view of institute achievements. Web of Science and Scopus are the two most popular and scientific. In this paper, we define the important effective factors in educational growth and discuss them; we then compare these defined factors across four different developing countries: Brazil, Iran, Malaysia, and Turkey. As well as the comparisons, this paper uses the Pearson product moment correlation coefficient method to analyze the factors and the strong or weak relationship between the factors are discussed. Keywords: Educational growth; Developing countries; Publication; Impact factor; Web of Science; Scopus.

Of researchers working in major research centers and public universities in the northern state of Sinaloa, Mexico, a diagnosis of the number of scientific and technical articles published in journals that are in the Science Journal Citation Reports is performed to this databases of some of the institutions mentioned, as well as internet consultation and personal reviewed. Disclosed the range and average impact factor of articles. Research centers are so presented a higher number of indexed journals, however when comparing the average impact factor with some of the institutions and public universities similar results were obtained. Clearly still low productivity high impact scientific articles in upstate despite the productive economic dynamism presents this region.

In recent years, Impact Factor scores have been criticized due to misuse. The growing acceptance of Impact Factor scores in many Brazilian subject areas has created this recent discussion, mainly because Brazil has its own rating system for journals: Qualis. The whole system follows governmental directions under the Ministry of Education, and it has been criticized as a monopolized evaluation system that accepts Impact Factor scores as tools for measuring quality. Despite being under ministerial instruction, each subject area adapts the system, applies Impact Factor scores as a valid measure, or does not accept the scores at all and utilizes other ways to measure qualified journals. Here, we will attempt to show that the Brazilian system is more complex than previously thought. We will also advocate for the possible adoption of a rating system that does not follow any kind of metric system for rating journals. To conclude, we will address the fact that what has to change in Brazil is the unrealistic use of Impact Factor scores, rather than the whole governmental system.

After nine years of continuous on-time publication, we thought it appropriate in this editorial to review some of the journal’s accomplishments. To date, we have published 27 issues, on schedule, totaling 440 articles selected out of 1093 submissions. All of the articles have been peer-reviewed by at least two reviewers. Our average overall rejection rate is 60%, and this trend is steadily increasing due to the more stringent standards applied as the journal interfaces with various databases and indices, and also due to the increasing number of submissions we receive as the journal achieves greater prominence and recognition. The journal’s system currently includes 1,904 registered users, 682 of which are members of our ad hoc peer reviewers’ panel. Our Editorial Committee was recently augmented with the addition of outstanding scientists from the European Community, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, and it continues to grow. In recent years we have been publishing about 60 articles per year. All of the articles have doi™ registration with CrossRef, which enhances their accessibility and visibility through interaction with many indices and publication search engines. We promote the visibility of the articles in many venues throughout the world and more recently in academic and social networks. Another major accomplishment was the recent inclusion of the journal in distinguished collections such as SciELO and SCOPUS.

The h-index is a research impact and productivity indicator proposed by Hirsch (USA, 2005) and adopted by WoK and Scopus. However, it was not recognised in Communication until Google entered into the field of bibliometry in 2012 by introducing h-impact lists of scientific journals and h-index on scholars’ profiles. This article compares the h-index and the impact factor, identifies the context indicators (g, m, h5, i10), tries to define a reference hR index for the Communication field and analyses the h-impact of journals in this field in the Ibero-American region.

Objetivo: Analizar la difusión y el impacto de la investigación española sobre Sanidad Penitenciaria en los últimos diez años publicada en revistas científicas internacionales Material y método: Estudio descriptivo, longitudinal y retrospectivo de la producción científica. Se ha utilizado como fuente de información Medline-Pubmed. Se analizan aspectos bibliométricos de las revistas, los trabajos y los autores utilizando indicadores de Web of Science, Journal Citation Reports y los Essential Indicator. Se identifica la producción, las revistas, los autores y los temas de investigación. Resultados: Son 159 los trabajos publicados, lo que supone casi el 2% de la producción mundial en sanidad penitenciaria. El perfil de publicación mayoritario es en revistas internacionales de medio impacto en los JCR. La Revista Española de Sanidad Penitenciaria, sin alcanzar protagonismo, es la más productiva (9.09%). Por autores, solo dos alcanzan un nivel medio alto con hasta 10 trabajos publicados en la década. El estudio de coautoría muestra una red muy tupida con 14 autores y distintas redes menores fragmentadas. Respecto de las citas, 6 son los trabajos que reciben 15 o más, siendo solo 2 los que podemos considerar altamente citados. Los temas de estudio presentan tres frentes: enfermedades infecciosas, drogas y problemas psiquiátrico-psicológicos. Conclusiones: La aportación española a la investigación mundial en Sanidad Penitenciaria (1,9%) está próxima a otras disciplinas, aunque es ligeramente inferior (Medicina General representa el 3,05%, Salud Pública 2,38%, Psiquiatría 2,29%, Toxicología 2,46%). Se prevé que la Sanidad Penitenciaria remontará con la incorporación a Medline de su revista homónima y con el colectivo de autores que se ha incorporado a la corriente internacional. Esta incorporación no ha significado aun la integración en revistas de alto nivel y en citación. Las revistas utilizadas promedian un Factor de Impacto bajo (2,062) y son escasos los trabajos en revistas de primer nivel (Q1). Son pocos los trabajos con un promedio aceptable de citas en su área de conocimiento. El patrón de coautoría muestra aún un estado inmaduro de la investigación española en Sanidad Penitenciaria.Objective: This paper sets out to analyze the dissemination and impact of Spanish research published in international scientific journals on Prison Health over the last decade. Material and methods: Descriptive, longitudinal and retrospective analysis of scientific output. We used the Medline-Pubmed database as an information resource. We focus on the bibliometric aspects of journals, papers and authors using the indicators offered by the Web of Science, the Journal Citation Reports and the Essential Science Indicators. We identify the output of Spanish researchers, journals in which they are published, authors and main research fields. Results: From 2002 to 2011, Spanish researchers published 159 papers, that is, nearly 2% of the world's share in Prison Health. The publication profile is mainly in international journals with an average impact on JCR. The Revista Española de Sanidad Penitenciaria is the most productive journal (9.09%), although its role is not prominent. Only two authors can be considered as medium-high productive authors with 10 papers in the study time period. The co-authors network shows a dense network with 14 authors along with minor fragmented networks. As regards citations, 6 papers have been cited 15 or more times and only two can be considered as highly cited. Three main research fronts have been identified: infectious diseases, drugs and psychiatric-psychological problems. Conclusions: The Spanish research production on Prison Health represents a similar share of the world output similar to that of other disciplines (1.9%), although slightly lower (General Medicine represents 3.05%; Public Health, 2.38%; Psychiatry, 2.29%; Toxicology, 2.46%). It seems likely that this share will increase as a result of the inclusion of its main journal in Medline along with an increasing number of researchers working on this discipline at an international level. However, inclusion has not yet led to integration into high-impact journals or a larger number of citations. The average Journal Impact Factor is relatively low (2.062) and few papers are published in first-class journals (Q1). There are few articles with a good citation average according to the discipline's standard. Likewise, the collaboration pattern still shows a poor state for Spanish research on Prison Health.

Despite of its small size, the Central American country of Costa Rica is internationally recognized as one of the world leaders in conservation and as the Central American leader in science. There have been no recent studies on the country’s scientific production. The objective of this study was to analyze the Costa Rican scientific output as represented in the Science Citation Index Expanded. All documents with “Costa Rica” in the address field from 1981 to 2010 were included (total 6 801 publications). Articles (79%) were more frequent than other types of publication and were mostly in English (83%). Revista de Biología Tropical published the most articles (17%), followed by Toxicon and Turrialba (2.5%). The New England Journal of Medicine had the highest impact factor (53.484) with nine articles. Of 5 343 articles with known institutional address, 63%were internationally collaborative articles (most with the USA) with h index 91 and citation per publication 18. A total of 81% of all articles were inter-institutionally collaborative articles, led by the Universidad de Costa Rica. This reflects research and education agreements among these countries. Universidad de Costa Rica ranked top one in inter-institutionally collaborative articles, the rank of the total inter-institutionally collaborative articles, and the rank of first author articles and corresponding author articles. Studied subjects and journals in our sample are in agreement with dominant science fields and journals in Costa Rica. Articles with the highest citation were published in New England Journal of Medicine. The largest citation of medical articles reflects the general interest and wider readership of this subject. All corresponding and first authors of the high impact articles were not from Costa Rica. In conclusion, the scientific output of Costa Rican authors is strong in the areas related to conservation but the impact is higher for biomedical articles, and Costa Rican authors need to improve their position within research teamsA pesar de su pequeño tamaño, el país centroamericano de Costa Rica es reconocido internacionalmente como uno de los líderes mundiales en la conservación y como el líder centroamericano en la ciencia. No se han realizado estudios recientes sobre la producción científica del país. El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar la producción científica de Costa Rica, tal como se representa en el Science Citation Index Expanded. Todos los documentos con “Costa Rica” en el campo de dirección de 1981 a 2010 fueron incluidos (total de 6 801 publicaciones). Los artículos (79%) fueron más frecuentes que otros tipos de publicación y eran en su mayoría en inglés (83%). Revista de Biología Tropical publicó el mayor número de artículos (17%), seguido por Toxicon y Turrialba (2.5%). El New England Journal of Medicine tuvo el mayor factor de impacto (53.484), con nueve artículos. De los 5 343 artículos con dirección institucional conocida, el 63% eran artículos de colaboración a nivel internacional (la mayoría con los EE.UU.) con índice h 91 y las citas por publicación 18. Un total de 81% de todos los artículos eran dirigidos por la Universidad de Costa Rica con la colaboración de otras instituciones. Esto refleja acuerdos de investigación y educación entre países. La Universidad de Costa Rica se situó en el primer puesto en la colaboración en artículos a nivel inter-institucional, y el rango de los artículos del primer autor y artículos con autores de correspondencia. Los temas estudiados y las revistas de la muestra coinciden con los campos de las ciencias dominantes y revistas en Costa Rica. Los artículos con mayor citación fueron publicados en New England Journal of Medicine. La mayor citación de artículos médicos refleja el interés general y un público más amplio para este tema. Todos los autores de correspondencia y el primer autor de los artículos de alto impacto no eran de Costa Rica. En conclusión, la producción científica de autores costarricenses es fuerte en las áreas relacionadas con la conservación, pero el impacto es mayor para los artículos biomédicos, y los autores de Costa Rica necesitan mejorar su posición dentro de estos temas de investigación.

La presencia de la nutrición como materia independiente dentro de los planes de estudio de las facultades de Medicina españolas ha sido exigua hasta el final del siglo XX. Pareja a esta carencia ha sido la falta de vehículos científicos solventes. A lo largo de los doce años transcurridos en el siglo XXI hemos asistido a un crecimiento importante en calidad y cantidad de las oportunidades especificas para las ciencias de la nutrición en lengua castellana y portuguesa. En 2000 aparecían en el Journal Citation Reports Science Edition 51 revistas en la categoría de Nutrition & Dietetics. Entre ellas solo había una ibero latinoamericana, Archivos Latinoamericanos de Nutrición (ALAN, ISSN 0004-0622). A lo largo del siglo XXI se han incorporado tres revistas ibero latinoamericanas al JCR, Nutrición Hospitalaria (Nutr Hosp, ISSN 0212-1611) en 2006, Revista de Nutricao (Rev Nutr, ISSN 1415-5273) y Revista Española de Nutrición Comunitaria (Rev Esp Nutr Comunit, ISSN 1135-3074) en 2007. Las cuatro revistas van teniendo un lugar cada dia mas destacado en otras plataformas electrónicas, prestando un servicio importante a la sociedad científica, no solo de su ámbito, sino en el resto del mundo. Aun cuando la lengua inglesa domina la comunicación científica, la masa crítica de publicaciones ya existentes en castellano y el ámbito de influencia de esta lengua es un estimulo para seguir utilizándola como vehículo científico.The presence of nutrition as an independent matter in the educational programs of the Spanish Faculties of Medicine has been scanty until the end of the XXth century. We have witnessed an important development of the specific opportunities for the nutritional sciences in terms of quality and quantity in the XXIst century. Only one ibero latin American journal, Archivos Latinoamericanos de Nutrición (ALAN, ISSN 0004-0622), was present in the Journal Citation Reports, Science Edition among the 51 journals under the heading of Nutrition & Dietetics. Three more ibero latin American journals have been incorporated to JCR in the XXIst century, Nutrición Hospitalaria (Nutr Hosp, ISSN 0212-1611) in 2006, Revista de Nutricao (Rev Nutr, ISSN 1415-5273) and Revista Española de Nutrición Comunitaria (Rev Esp Nutr Comunit, ISSN 1135-3074) in 2007. The four journals are having a growing importance in other electronic platforms, rendering an important service to the scientific society, not only in their environment, but also in the rest of the world. Although English language dominates scientific communications, the critical mass of already existing journals in Spanish and the area of influence of this language is a good stimulus for continuing its utilization.

A avaliação da “importância” de artigos científicos, na sua área de inclusão (fator de impacto), tornou-se fundamental ao longo dos tempos. Este texto tem como objetivo, apresentar e explicar como se calcula o fator de impacto, assim como apresentar as limitações que lhe são inerentes, a sua comparação interdisciplinar e a sua evolução, relativamente às revistas científicas de enfermagem. Para isso, recorreu-se à pesquisa em bases de dados e à consulta do Journal Citation Reports, indexado à Science Citation Index, onde todos os anos são divulgados os valores do fator de impacto de revistas científicas de todo o mundo. A classificação QUALIS e a inclusão de revistas científicas em bases de dados de divulgação internacional são apontadas como preponderantes para a inclusão do fator de impacto nas mesmas.La evaluación de la “importancia” de artículos científicos en su campo de inclusión (factor de impacto), se ha convertido en esencial a lo largo del tiempo. Este estudio tiene como objetivo presentar y explicar la forma de calcular el factor de impacto así como exponer las limitaciones que le son inherentes, su comparación interdisciplinaria y su desarrollo, en lo referente a las revistas de enfermería. Con este fin, se recurrió a las bases de datos de investigación y consulta de los Journal Citation Reports, que está indexado al Science Citation Index, y donde se publican, todos los años, los valores del factor de impacto de revistas científicas de todo el mundo.La clasificación QUALIS y la inclusión de las revistas en bases de datos de difusión internacional se identifican como prevalentes para la inclusión del factor de impacto en las propias revistas.The evaluation of the “importance” of scientific articles, within their field (impact factor), became essential over time. This text aims to present and explain how to measure the impact factor as well as to show its inherent limitations, its interdisciplinary comparison and its development, in relation to nursing journals. Accordingly we searched databases and consulted the Journal Citation Reports, which is indexed to Science Citation Index, and where the values of impact factor of scientific journals from around the world are published on a yearly basis. The QUALIS classification and the inclusion of scientific journals in research databases of international disclosure are identified as preponderant to include the impact factor in the journals.

Actualmente se emplea el Factor de Impacto (FI) como medida de la relevancia o la calidad de la producción científica de una institución, un proyecto o un grupo de investigación, o un investigador particular, independientemente del campo científico al que pertenecen. En este estudio se presenta una clasificación de las publicaciones españolas indexadas en las bases de datos del Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) en función de su relevancia. Se propone para la medida de esta relevancia el Factor de Impacto Renormalizado (Fr) en lugar del FI. Los resultados encontrados muestran que el 12.64% de las revistas españolas incluidas en el ISI pueden ser consideradas relevantes dentro de sus categorías y que un alto FI no indica necesariamente un alto nivel de relevancia de la revista, por lo que el FI no es un índice adecuado para evaluar actividades científicas pertenecientes a campos diferentes.Nowadays the Impact Factor (IF) is used as a measure of the relevance or the quality of an institution, a research group or project, or a particular researcher's scientific production, regardless of the scientific field to which they belong. This paper shows a classification of the Spanish journals included in the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) databases based on their relevance. To measure this relevance we propose the Renormalized Impact Factor (Fr) instead of the IF. The results show that 12.64% of Spanish journals included in the ISI may be considered relevant in their categories and that a high IF does not necessarily indicate a high relevance of the journal, so the IF perhaps is not an appropriate index to evaluate scientific activities belonging to different fields.

Los científicos tienen como principal aspectos de expresión las revistas científicas. Nacidas en el siglo XVII desarrollan un papel de difusión sobre el avance de la ciencia. Sin embargo,las publicaciones científicas son también instrumentos de poder en el contexto internacional al centrarse su edición en determinados países. Este artículo supone una introducción al modelo actual de publicaciones científicas./ Scientists have the main aspects of expression of scientific journals. Born in the seventeenthcentury developed a role of diffusion on the progress of science. However, scientific publications are also instruments of power in the international arena by focusing his edition in certain countries. This article is an introduction to the current model of scientificpublications.

In this paper the publications from Spanish institutions listed in the journals of the Construction & Building Technology subject of Web of Science database for the period 1997- 2008 are analyzed. The number of journals in whose is published is 35 and the number of articles was 760 (Article or Review). Also a bibliometric assessment has done and we propose two new parameters: Weighted Impact Factor and Relative Impact Factor; also includes the number of citations and the number documents at the institutional level. Among the major production Institutions with greater scientific production, as expected, the Institute of Constructional Science Eduardo Torroja (CSIC), while taking into account the weighted impact factor ranks first University of Vigo. On the other hand, only two journals Cement and Concrete Materials and Materials de Construction agglutinate the 45.26% of the Spanish scientific production published in the Construction & Building Technology subject, with 172 papers each one. Regarding international cooperation, include countries such as England, Mexico, United States, Italy, Argentina and France.

This editorial describes the process of periodic evaluation by CAPES, based on commercial indices proposed by companies such as the ISI FI by Thomson Reuters and SCImago by Scopus and public indices as proposed by SciELO and other freely calculated indices based on Google Scholar and investigates the impact position of the journal Ambiente & Agua compared with journals from the SciELO base. Results show that Ambiente & Agua is in the right path in the search for quality. Its editorial board strongly recommends that Brazilian public scientific agencies consider tools that are cost free and have large coverage for impact evaluation to allow the impact assessment of a range of emerging journals in a common and wide basis for all scientific journals.

Las revistas biomédicas son el medio más usado e importante para la difusión e intercambio de información científica y la evaluación es un componente importante dentro de su gestión. Se realizó un estudio bibliométrico de la producción, visibilidad y citación de la Revista Peruana de Medicina Experimental y Salud Pública (RPMESP), de 2002 a 2009. En tal periodo, la RPMESP publicó en promedio 62 documentos por año, siendo 55,3% artículos de investigación. La visibilidad de la RPMESP, determinada al cuantificar las solicitudes a través de tres indizadoras (SISBIB-UNMSM, SciELO-Perú, y REDALYC), fue irregular, incrementándose a partir de julio 2006, con una máxima de 117618 solicitudes en octubre 2009. Se citó el 43,0% de las publicaciones. El factor de impacto calculado en revistas ISI fue de 0,04 para el 2009. En conclusión, la citación de la RPMESP muestra un crecimiento lento durante el periodo 2002-2009. Se espera que la RPMESP incremente su visibilidad e impacto luego de su inclusión en MEDLINE.Biomedical journals are the most used and important venue to disseminate and interchange scientific information, and evaluation is an important component. A bibliometric study was conducted on the productivity, visibility and citation analysis of the Revista Peruana de Medicina Experimental y Salud Pública (RPMESP), from 2002 to 2009. During this period, the RPMESP published about 62 documents per year, 55.3% were research articles. The visibility of RPMESP, determined among three databases (SISBIB-UNMSM, SciELO-Peru, and REDALYC), was irregular, increasing on July 2006, with the highest access on October 2009 (117,618 hits). 43.0% of publications were cited. The calculated impact factor in ISI journals was 0.04 in 2009. In conclusion, the citation of RPMESP shows a slowly growing during the period 2002-2009. It is hoped that the RPMESP increase its visibility and impact after its inclusion in MEDLINE.

Heart diseases are at the top of the health statistics concerning the main causes of death in the world. This fact reveals the need of focussing the health scientific policy toward the diagnosis and treatment of these diseases. Currently, the best results in this field are not widely published; however, the challenge for Cuban publications, in general, is to reach a better visibility. In order to meet this challenge, a bibliometric study of the Cardiology journals which are available in the Web of Science was carried out, having the Impact Factor (IF) as the main variable. The issues of the JCR Science Edition during the period from 2006 to 2008 were analysed. The results showed that there is not a sufficient amount of journals on this field, in spite of the fact that there is a group which has increased its number, year after year, with a relatively high impact factor. Although the vast majority of these journals are published in English, some others, of high renown, are published in Spanish or are multilingual. The Journal of the American College of Cardiology was the journal with the highest impact factor in 2008; therefore, it is the one with the highest visibility in this specialty. Finally, it was determined that most of the Cardiology journals are from North America, mainly from the US, while only 6 of them are from Europe.

The Latin American scientific community is becoming increasingly significant in many areas, particularly in the ceramic field because of its proximity to the processes of generation of infrastructure and housing demand in developing societies. The present study is devoted to determine the specific weight that each country, research institution and author have adquired. The thirty journals included in Journal Citation Reports, under the category “Materials Science, Ceramics” along 1997-2008 period, have been selected and articles from Latin America and Portugal, have been analyzed under a bibliometric approach. Thus, within the document type “Journal Article or Review” 1423 papers have been collected and studied from an institutional perspective; different bibliometric indicators (number of documents weighted impact factor, relative impact factor and the ratio between the number of citations and the number of documents) have been elaborated. Among the research centers showing a scientific highlight the most relevant is the University of Aveiro (Portugal) and the Universidade Federal de São Carlos (Brazil), followed by the Universidade Estadual Paulista and Universidade de São Paulo, both belonging to Brazil. The latter is also notable for its high weighted impact factor. Regarding publications, the Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids ranked first, by bringing together the 20.45% of scientific production in Latin America and Portugal published in the JCR (1423 items). However, if data from Spain were collected, the magazine Bulletin of the Spanish Society of Ceramics and Glass, it is the most relevant, taking into account the higher number of articles (524), that represents for 19.68% of total records founded (2663). It has also confirmed a remarkable international collaboration, mainly with Spain, France, Brazil, USA, England and Portugal, and highlighting the situation of the latter country, carrying out 49.11% of scientific production analyzed in international collaboration. Finally, it was found that the annual impact factor of scientific publications has been a growing trend in all countries and particularly, in Brazil.La comunidad científica latinoamericana viene adquiriendo progresivamente un peso significativo en numerosos ámbitos, y en particular en el cerámico, dada su cercanía a los procesos de generación de infraestructuras y vivienda que demandan las sociedades en desarrollo. Para estudiar su alcance dentro de la comunidad internacional, así como determinar el peso específico que ha adquirido cada país y entidad investigadora, se han seleccionado las treinta revistas incluidas en el Journal Citation Reports, dentro de la categoría “Materials Science, Ceramics”, analizándose, desde un punto de vista bibliométrico, los artículos procedentes de América Latina y Portugal durante el período 1997-2008. Dentro de la tipología documental “Journal Article o Review” y una vez eliminadas las duplicaciones, se encontraron 1423 documentos. Asimismo se han detallado, desde un punto de vista institucional, los diferentes indicadores bibliométricos (Número de Documentos, Factor de Impacto Ponderado, Factor de Impacto Relativo y ratio entre el Número de Citas y el Número de Documentos). Entre los centros de investigación que tienen una producción científica representativa destacan de forma sobresaliente la Universidad de Aveiro (Portugal) y la Universidade Federal de São Carlos (Brasil), y a continuación la Universidade Estadual Paulista y la Universidade de São Paulo, ambas también en Brasil. Esta última destaca también por su elevado Factor de Impacto Ponderado. En cuanto a las publicaciones, la revista Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids ocupa el primer lugar, al aglutinar el 20.45% de la producción científica de América Latina y Portugal publicada en el JCR (1423 artículos). No obstante, si se incluyen los datos relativos a España, recogidos por los autores en un trabajo previo, es la revista Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Cerámica y Vidrio, la que presenta un mayor número de artículos (524), que suponen el 19.68% del total de artículos encontrados (2663) y reflejan el peso determinante de las publicaciones españolas en el contexto cerámico iberoamericano. El Instituto de Cerámica y Vidrio del CSIC, es el centro iberoamericano con mayor producción científica, con 360 documentos. Asimismo, se ha confirmado una notable colaboración internacional, principalmente con España, Francia, Brasil, Estados Unidos, Inglaterra y Portugal, destacando la situación de este último país, que realiza el 49,11% de su producción científica analizada en colaboración internacional. Por último, se ha constatado que el Factor de Impacto Anual de las publicaciones científicas ha tenido una tendencia creciente en todos los países y, de manera especial, en Brasil.

In this paper we show for selected period (1997-2008), the journals in the subject Materials Science, Ceramics in which were for spanish authors published in Spain (24), analyzed from a bibliometric point of view the publications found (1240) the document type (Journal Article or Review), detailing the bibliometric results (number of documents weighted impact factor, relative impact factor and the ratio between the number of citations and the number of documents) from an institutional standpoint. Among those with a scientific representative stands out prominently the Institute of Ceramics and Glass. Impact Factor highlighted by the Institute of Construction Science Eduardo Torroja. Furthermore, the journal Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Cerámica y Vidrio brings together the 32.74% of the Spanish scientific output, being also the first journal for number of documents in that subject. It also confirmed a moderate international collaboration, with France and the United States as the main countries from that standpoint.En este trabajo se analizan las publicaciones procedentes de instituciones españolas recogidas en las revistas de la categoría Materials Science, Ceramics del Journal Citation Reports para el periodo 1997-2008. El número de revistas incluídas es de 24 y el número de artículos publicados ha sido de 1240 (Journal Article o Review). Se ha realizado una evaluación bibliométrica en que se proponen dos nuevos parámetros: Factor de Impacto Ponderado y Factor de Impacto Relativo, que puedan ayudar a mejorar la evaluación de centros e instituciones; asimismo se incluyen datos habitualmente utilizados como el Número de citas y el Número de documentos, tanto a nivel institucional como personal. Entre los centros con una mayor producción científica destaca, como era de prever, el Instituto de Cerámica y Vidrio, mientras que tomando en consideración el Factor de Impacto ocupa el primer lugar el Instituto de Ciencias de la Construcción Eduardo Torroja. Por otro lado, la revista Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Cerámica y Vidrio aglutina el 32.74% de toda la producción científica española publicada en el ámbito Ceramics, constituyéndose así, como la primera revista por número de trabajos en dicha área. Se enumeran los datos de colaboración internacional, destacando Francia y Estados Unidos como principales países con las que colaboran los científicos españoles en el campo cerámico.

El director y el redactor jefe de Nutrición Hospitalaria (Nutr Hosp) analizan la revista desde su fundación en 1979 hasta el momento actual, con ocasion de la primera aparición de su factor de impacto publicada por Journal Citation Reports (JCR). Se describen las acciones realizadas durante este periodo de treinta años, que incluyen su incorporación a múltiples bases de datos de la Web, la política de Open Access llevada a cabo, su progresiva internacionalización, y el análisis bibliometrico realizado en 1999. El artículo incluye un grafico con la evolución del factor de impacto. Nutr Hosp , clasificada en el grupo de "Nutrition & Dietetics" de JCR, se sitúa en la posición 42/59, es decir, en el tercer "cuartil". Entre las revistas científicas españolas indizadas en JCR, Nutr Hosp aparece en la posición14/37. Se hacen una serie de consideraciones en referencia a los aspectos económicos de la revista, el numero de artículos recibidos hasta la fecha y los que se esperan en el futuro, el porcentaje de rechazos y el idioma (español o ingles) en que la revista debe ser publicada.The editors of Nutrición Hospitalaria (Nutr Hosp) analyze the journal from its foundation in 1979 to the present time, on occasion of the first publication of its impact factorby Journal Citation Reports (JCR). The actions taken along this thirty year period are described, including its incorporation to multiple web databases, the Open Access policy of the journal, its progressive internationality, and the bibliometric analysis made in 1999. A figure with the journal citation trends is included. Nutr Hosp, included in the "Nutrition & Dietetics" group of JCR, is in the position 42/59, i.e. in the third quartile. Among the Spanish journals included in JCR,Nutr Hosp is located in the 14/37 position. A few considerations are made related to the economical aspects of the journal, the number of articles received so far, the articles expected in the future, the rejection rate and the language (Spanish or English) in which Nutr Hosp should be published.

Este trabajo analiza el factor de impacto, publicado en el Journal Citation Report del Social ScienceCitation Index, y el uso de las revistas científicas del ámbito de economía y empresa accesibles através de los distribuidores Emerald, Science Direct, Springerlink y Wiley Interscience en la Universidadde León durante los años 2003 y 2004. El objetivo es comprobar si las revistas de economía yempresa con mayor relevancia, es decir, las que poseen un factor de impacto más elevado, son las másusadas por la comunidad universitaria. Por ello, en última instancia se relacionan ambos conceptoscon el fin de comprobar si el factor de impacto influye en el uso de las revistas.

Este trabajo es una reflexión de cómo los investigadores pueden diseñar una estrategia para su producción científica en arqueología. Sostenemos que un plan adecuado incide en las oportunidades laborales que se abren a los jóvenes investigadores de esta disciplina. En particular, argumentamos que la forma de medir la calidad de las publicaciones científicas debería ser un factor a tomar en cuenta, y sugerimos una secuencia para planificar la publicación de los resultados de las investigaciones en este campo.This paper reflects on how young researchers can design strategies of scientific production, given that the amount of publication generated weighs heavily on future job opportunities. Particularly, the way of measuring quality of scientific publication is presented here, and how this should be taken into account. Finally, this paper suggests a general framework to plan strategies for the publication of research results.

This paper discusses of the use of the Impact Factor in the evaluation of chemistry graduate courses by CAPES and the internationalization of the Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society and Química Nova.

Objective: To characterize the scientific production of the Revista Alergia Mexico., Methods: A descriptive study was carried out that took into consideration the bibliometric information of the Revista Alergia México hosted in PubMed (MEDLINE) and Scopus., Results: The total number of articles published during 1991 to 2021 according to Pubmed was 1,115 (annual mean: 37.2 ± 12.3). Scopus registered 1,541 articles during 1972 to 2021 (annual mean: 30.8 ± 14.9); in both sources, original articles (49 and 78%, respectively) and review articles (21 and 12%, respectively) were the most published document modalities; the most relevant topics included asthma (32%), allergic rhinitis (16%) and drug allergy (9%). Public institutions in Mexico were the institutions with the highest number of published articles. The country with the highest number of published papers was Mexico (54%), followed by Colombia (5%) and Spain (4%). The 2020 citation index according to Scopus was 0.9; an H-index of 15; and an impact factor of 0.150. During the period 2016 - 2020, the annual rejection rate ranged from 7% to 30%., Conclusions: Promoting the internationalization of the journal, publishing articles in the English language and achieving the impact factor are among some of the main needs of the Revista Alergia Mexico.

Quimica Nova and the Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society are two examples of successful initiatives taken by the Brazilian Chemical Society (SBQ - Sociedade Brasileira de Química), and may serve as models for the scientific societies of developing countries. Pillars of the SBQ, these two periodicals are undeniable demonstrations that idealism, utopia and dignity are the essential ingredients for transforming dreams into reality. Few believed that the Brazilian chemical community would one day have, as it does today, two scientific research periodicals indexed in the principal international data banks.

An analysis of the impact evolution of the journal Bulletin of the Spanish Ceramic and Glass Society has attempted. The results of an inquiry between Spanish Glass and Ceramic Society, SECV, members as well readers and author have been took into account. The profile of the received inquiries reveals that the user of the journal is mainly a ceramic and glass professional devoted to R+D that published scientific papers. This interest was compared with the data obtained from SCI. The increase of the impact facto of the SECV journal is related to a high relatedness index and a short cited half-life. Both factor point out that the scientific nature of the journal is limited to a small community restricted by the language.Se ha realizado un análisis de la evolución del factor de impacto de la revista. Para ello se han evaluado los resultados de una encuesta realizada entre los socios de la Sociedad Española ce Cerámica y Vidrio, SECV, lectores y autores de la revista. El perfil del usuario de la revista es el de un profesional dedicado a la investigación y desarrollo en materiales cerámicos y vítreos que es autor de trabajos científicos. El interés de los encuestados se contrasta con los datos derivados del SCI para el periodo en el que la revista ha formado parte de dicha base de datos. El aumento en el factor de impacto de la revista Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Cerámica y Vidrio, esta relacionado con un factor de proximidad muy elevado y una vida media de las citaciones muy corta. Ambos factores señalan que la revista en cuanto a su orientación científica, se encuentra limitada a una comunidad muy pequeña constreñida principalmente por el idioma.

Se presenta la proyección de la Universidad Politécnica de Valencia mediante el análisis de su producción científica desde 1973 hasta 2001 inclusive, a partir de los artículos de revista y las comunicaciones a congresos disponibles en las principales bases de datos nacionales e internacionales. Se ha analizado la productividad y distribución temporal, por tipo de documento y por idioma, así como la producción científica por autores y por departamentos, identificando los más productivos. Por otro lado, se ha estudiado la distribución y evolución de la literatura científica, indicando aquellas revistas más utilizadas. Los resultados indican, como aspectos más relevantes, una amplia gama de áreas temáticas cubiertas, el incremento anual constante de la productividad científica, así como una amplia presencia en las revistas con factor impacto.

An analysis of the scope distribution of the papers published in Bulletin of the Spanish Ceramic and Glass Society has attempted. The papers analyzed has been those published in 2003-2004. The scope distribution has been realized by assigning the paper to the different section of the Spanish Ceramic and Glass Society. This assignation allows to compare this data with the industrial sector relevance. The influence of these parameters on the journal impact factor has also studied.Se ha realizado un análisis de la distribución temática de los trabajos publicados en el Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Cerámica y Vidrio. Se han analizado los trabajos comprendidos en el periodo 2003-2004. La distribución se ha realizado correlacionando la temática de los trabajos con las distintas secciones de la SECV. Esta asignación permite establecer una primera comparación con la relevancia del sector industrial de España. Se estudia la influencia que tienen estos parámetros sobre el factor de impacto de la revista.

The proliferation and globalization of the scientifi c literaturehave evidence the necessity of creating a system ofevaluation, qualifi cation and comparison of the quality forthis kind of production. Answering this necessity, differentinstitutions had included scales and indicators for theevaluation and qualifi cation of the effect that a publicationhas on the scientific environment. Now a days, thesesystems are considered a useful tool of for the evaluationof the investigation process, even though it questionableindependence, representatively and validity, are reasonof controversy. The objective of the present article is toexplore the origins, advantages, disadvantages and newtendencies in the development of bibliometric indicators andtheir application like tool for the evaluation of the scientifi cproduction.

Aborda os conceitos e os métodos relacionados com o uso do fator de impacto (FI) do Institute for Scientific Information para avaliação da produção científica publicada em periódicos. Resgata a história do FI, desde sua formulação inicial até tornar-se objeto de inúmeras investigações sobre as diferenças nos valores do indicador nas várias áreas do conhecimento. Destaca que as variáveis que apresentam a maior influência sobre o FI são a densidade e o ritmo de obsolescência dos periódicos. Trata das abordagens sincrônicas e diacrônicas de medir a obsolescência da literatura, como o índice de citação imediata, a meia-vida das citações e o estudo da idade de referências citadas. Conclui com reflexões sobre o sistema de avaliação científica brasileiro e o papel do SciELO na formulação de indicadores bibliométricos.This paper deals with concepts and methods concerning the use of the Impact Factor (IF), as defined by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), on the evaluation of scientific production published in specialized journals. The history of IF is discussed from its first formulation up to the moment when it became the subject of a large amount of investigations regarding the differences among the values for different knowledge areas. It is emphasized that the main variables affecting IF are journal density and their obsolescence rate. The synchronous and diachronous approaches used to measure obsolescence are discussed, such as the immediacy index, half-life of citations and citation age. As a conclusion, the Brazilian system for scientific evaluation is analyzed, as well as the SciELO role on the formulation of bibliometric indicators.

The journal impact factor (IF), which is published annually by the Institute for Scientific Information® (USA), is meanwhile in widespread use as a scientometric parameter for the evaluation of research and researchers in Germany and other European countries. The present article subjects the IF to critical analysis. It first deals with processes of production, transfer, and use of medical knowledge, because the IF intervenes in these processes on account of its reflexivity. Secondary effects of the IF resulting from its reflexivity are discussed with the focus on the level of the author, the journal and the medical discipline as well as on social knowledge processes in society. In addition, the extent to which the IF is appropriate for evaluating the quality of a specific article, of a journal or of individual and collective research achievements is discussed. The present article calls for a) research evaluation in accordance with the recommendations of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Council, DFG) and of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Wissenschaftlichen Medizini-schen Fachgesellschaften (Association of the Scientific Medical Societies, AWMF); and b) for more intensive occupation with and organization of medical knowledge processes.El factor de impacto de las revistas (journal impact factor - IF), que publica anualmente el Institute for Scientific Information® (EE.UU.), se emplea generalizadamente como parámetro cienciométrico para evaluar las investigaciones y a los investigadores en Alemania y otros países europeos. El presente artículo somete al IF a un análisis crítico. Primero trata de los procesos de producción, comunicación y empleo del conocimiento médico, pues el IF interviene en estos procesos en virtud de su reflexividad. Se exponen los efectos secundarios del IF, que surgen de esta reflexividad, centrándose en el nivel del autor, de la revista y de la disciplina médica, así como en los procesos de conocimiento social de la sociedad. Además, se discute el grado en que el IF es adecuado para evaluar la calidad de un artículo específico, de una revista o de los logros científicos individuales o colectivos. El presente artículo demanda a) una evaluación de las investigaciones de acuerdo con las recomendaciones del Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Consejo de Investigaciones Científicas alemán, DFG) y de la Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Wissenschaftlichen Medizinischen Fachgesellschaften (Asociación de Sociedades Médicas Científicas, AWMF); y b) una dedicación más intensiva a los procesos del conocimiento médico y una mayor organización de los mismos.

News of the death of biomedical journals seem premature. Revamped traditional scientific journals remain highly valued sources and vehicles of information, critical debate, and knowledge. Some analyses seem to place a disproportionate emphasis on technological and formal issues, as compared to the importance ascribed to matters of power. Not all journals must necessarily have a large circulation. There are many examples of efficient, high-quality journals with a great impact on relatively small audiences for whom the journal is thought-provoking, useful, and pleasant to read. How can we achieve a better understanding of an article’s spectrum of impacts? A certain mixing of three distinct entities (journals, articles, and authors) has often pervaded judgments. Data used by the Institute for Scientific Information present weaknesses in their accuracy. The two-year limit for citations to count towards the bibliographic impact factor favors "fast-moving", "basic" biomedical disciplines and is less appropriate for public health studies. Increasing attention is given to the specific number of citations received by each individual article. It is possible to make progress towards more valid, accurate, fair, and relevant assessments.Noticias sobre la desaparición de las revistas biomédicas parecen prematuras. Puestas al día, las revistas científicas tradicionales continúan siendo fuentes altamente valiosas, vehículos de información, debate crítico y conocimiento. Algunos de los análisis muestran un énfasis desproporcionado sobre cuestiones tecnológicas y formales, si los comparamos con la importancia atribuida a los asuntos relacionados con el poder. No todas las revistas deben tener una tirada grande. Hay muchos ejemplos de revistas eficientes y de alta calidad con un magnífico impacto en audiencias relativamente pequeñas, a quienes la revista les resulta crítica desde el punto de vista intelectual, provechosa y agradable para la lectura. ¿Cómo podemos alcanzar un mejor conocimiento de la gama de impactos completa de un artículo? La mezcla entre las tres entidades definidas (revistas, artículos y autores) ha dominado a menudo los juicios de valor. Datos utilizados por el Instituto para la Información Científica presentan puntos flacos en los análisis atentos de sus exámenes. El plazo de dos años para que las citas cuenten con los favores de "movimiento rápido" del factor de impacto bibliográfico, "elementales" disciplinas biomédicas, consideramos que es menos apropiada para los estudios de salud pública. Es cada vez mayor la atención prestada al número de citas recibidas por cada artículo individual. Por lo que es posible realizar progresos dirigidos a asuntos más válidos, precisos, justos y relevantes.

A short description on the paramethers used by de the Institute for Scientific Information, particularly the Scientific Citation Index, as indicators of the qualitiy of the scientific journals was made. Some limitations to their use as global quality index was also indicated. The proccess issued by the Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Cerámica Y Vidrio to be included at the I.S.I and the positive evolution experimented was also described. Such change was inserted in the same positive tendency developped by the Spanish scientific journals, included in the Journal Citation Reports. Some suggestions to enhance the position of spanish journals was also incorporated.Se efectúa una somera descripción de los diferentes indicadores empleados por el Institute for Scientific Information( I.S.I) y en particular del Scientific Citation Index utilizados como parametros para evaluar la calidad de las revistas científicas, así como las limitaciones que presentan como indicadores de la calidad global de una revista. Se describe el proceso seguido por el Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Cerámica y Vidrio para su inclusión en el citado indice, y la evolución positiva experimentada por el factor de impacto a lo largo de los años. Esta evolución se inscribe dentro de la mejora global de indicadores del aún muy reducido número de revistas españolas, 30, que incorpora el Journal Citation Records. Se señalan algunas sugerencias que permitan asentar y mejorar la visibilidad de las revista científicas españolas.

News of the death of biomedical journals seem premature. Revamped traditional scientific journals remain highly valued sources and vehicles of information, critical debate, and knowledge. Some analyses seem to place a disproportionate emphasis on technological and formal issues, as compared to the importance ascribed to matters of power. Not all journals must necessarily have a large circulation. There are many examples of efficient, high-quality journals with a great impact on relatively small audiences for whom the journal is thought-provoking, useful, and pleasant to read. How can we achieve a better understanding of an article?s spectrum of impacts? A certain mixing of three distinct entities (journals, articles, and authors) has often pervaded judgments. Data used by the Institute for Scientific Information present weaknesses in their accuracy. The two-year limit for citations to count towards the bibliographic impact factor favors "fast-moving", "basic" biomedical disciplines and is less appropriate for public health studies. Increasing attention is given to the specific number of citations received by each individual article. It is possible to make progress towards more valid, accurate, fair, and relevant assessments.

The impact factor of scientific journals has been used to evaluate them, as well as the quality of scientific research. This parameter was recently used by CAPES as an important criterion for the evaluation of Brazilian postgraduate courses. The main objective of this paper is to show how impact factor is calculated and to discuss its importance and limitations, with special emphasis on chemistry journals.

The impact factor of scientific journals has been used to evaluate them, as well as the quality of scientific research. This parameter was recently used by CAPES as an important criterion for the evaluation of Brazilian postgraduate courses. The main objective of this paper is to show how impact factor is calculated and to discuss its importance and limitations, with special emphasis on chemistry journals.