An Impact Factor is one measure of the relative importance of a journal, individual article, or researcher to literature and research.

Informed and careful use of the impact data is essential and the following must be kept in mind:

• The number of times a paper is cited is not a measure of its actual quality.
• Some tools that measure the impact data do not incorporate books.
• Certain disciplines have low numbers of journals and usage. One should compare journals or researchers within the same discipline.
• Review articles are cited more often and can change results.
• Self-citing may skew results.

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Content Author: Sevilay Esat