Effect of Emerging Sources Citation Index journal citations on impact factor values

ABSTRACT

Objectives:

to analyze the effect of citations from Emerging Sources Citation Index collection journals on the Impact Factor value of Latin American journals included in the Journal Citation Reports.

Methods:

241 journals from the 2020 edition were used, representing 2% of the total Journal Citation Reports Social and Exact Sciences collections. For the research development, information of each journal was systematized, collecting useful descriptive data for each of the phases of analysis. From citations provided by emerging journals, a new calculation of Impact Factor was made, eliminating citations from these journals from the formula, to establish conclusions that contribute to debate on real effect they represent and this collection relevance, comparing this result with the impact factor without self-citations. The literature related to bibliometric indicators was also reviewed, especially Impact Factor, its different calculation methodologies, implications and repercussions and how they contribute to debate on its use as an evaluation measure.

Results:

although the citations issued by Emerging Sources Citation Index journals generally affect the Impact Factor value in selected sample, no significant decreases are observed. The highest percentage of citations issued comes from Brazil, with the largest number of journals in Journal Citation Reports, and is observed in Exact Sciences fields, with the greatest effect in quartile journals.

Conclusions:

the situation generated by emerging journals and number of citations they provide, is an added value that can be exploited in future to improve the journals themselves and visibility of the region within a source as important as Web of Science, in addition to having a greater number of journals in the central collection for research evaluation.

KEYWORDS:
Impact factor; Emerging Sources Citation Index; Journal Citation Reports; Latin American Scientific journals; Bibliometric indicators