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The article focuses on librarians who rely on the Institute for Scientific Information's (ISI) journal impact factor as a tool for selecting periodicals, primarily in scientific disciplines. ISI citation data from the Science Citation Index, Social Sciences Citation Index, Arts and Humanities Citation Index, and the Journal Citation Reports has received widespread application, far beyond its original and intended use. While the limitations and biases of this data have been discussed in a growing body of literature, many librarians continue to rely on this data during the process of journal selection and deselection. Given the expanding use in academia and librarianship, it should not be too surprising that publishers and editors have demonstrated a growing interest in impact factors. There is now clear evidence that impact factors can be manipulated by editors and publishers. In the new environment of the "big deal" or bundled journal packages and consortial purchases, this manipulation can be a serious problem. Such ranking has expanded to departments, laboratories, universities, and even countries.