EDITORIAL
We've got to ISI! But when will we really have our first Impact Factor and Immediacy Index?
Dear readers,
It is a great pleasure to announce the indexing in 2008 of the Brazilian Journal of Pharmacognosy (BJP) to the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) agency of the firm Thompson Scientific, which annually publishes the Journal Citation Report (JCR) responsible for the dissemination of the Impact Factor (IF) and Immediacy Index of scientific journals. It represents a stamp of quality of scientific journals. But when will the BJP really have its first impact factor and immediacy index? We need to understand how these indices are calculated. For example, the immediacy index measures the frequency at which the article in a journal is cited in the same year of its publication, in other words, the immediacy index determines the speed at which an article is read and cited. The immediacy index is calculated dividing the total citations in a given year for articles published in the same year by the total of published articles. The impact factor of a journal is mathematically defined as the number of times articles from journals are cited for a specific period (the numerator), divided by the total number of articles published by the journal in the same period (denominator), in a conventional period of two years.
As the immediacy index measures the frequency at which the article in a journal is cited in the same year of its publication, then in 2009 when the ISI publishes the immediacy index of 2008, there will be a value for the BJP. In relation to the impact factor, we must still wait two years. As the BJP has been indexed to the ISI in 2008, then it is necessary to wait up to 2011, when the IF of 2010 will be published, with information of the citations that the journal had received in 2008 + 2009. Hence, in 2009 and 2010 the name of the Braz. J. Pharmacogn. = Rev. Bras. Farmacogn. will appear in the Journal of Citation Report, without the impact factor (the place is clean, without any value), thus we will have IF in 2011. So, from 2011 the BJP will have Impact Factor and Immediacy Index, simultaneously.
Therefore, we want to thank the national and international researchers who have been entrusting their excellent articles to our journal. With the support of these and of those who cite the articles published in the Brazilian Journal of Pharmacognosy, we are highly optimistic to know these bibliometric indicators from 2009. We would like also to thank in particular the referees, who make a silent, but essential work. All of us should celebrate this victory together!
The Editors
Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
01 Aug 2008 -
Date of issue
June 2008
