UC Library Guides: Research Impact Factors: Measuring Journal Impact

What is Journal Impact Factor

The impact factor of a journal is a measure of the frequency with which the "average article" in a journal has been cited in a particular year or period.

Keep in mind

There is currently no single tool/database that indexes all journals across all vendors.

Each database that offers citation analysis uses their own content and journals indexed to calculate citation analysis.

SCImago Journal & Country Rank (SJR)

Scimago This link opens in a new window
is a portal that includes the journals and country scientific indicators developed from the information contained in the Scopus® database. These indicators can be used to assess and analyse scientific domains.

This indicator shows the visibility of the journals contained in the Scopus® database from 1996.
Scopus This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Scopus is the world's largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature and quality web sources, with smart tools to track, analyse and visualise research.

Other tools

Scimago This link opens in a new window
The SCImago Journal Rank website is free to access and uses journal information from the Scopus database. A useful tool for identifying and comparing journals.
Scopus Journal Analyser This link opens in a new window
Publish or Perish This link opens in a new window
Free software which tracks your research impact using Google Scholar and Microsoft Academic Search.
UlrichsWeb This link opens in a new window
Directory of information about journals, includes each journal's peer review status (refereed/not refereed) and publisher information. Search by journal title or ISSN.

JANE (Journal/Author Name Estimator) This link opens in a new window
Have you recently written a paper, but you're not sure to which journal you should submit it? Jane will then compare your document to millions of documents in Medline to find the best matching journals, authors or articles.
CWTS Journal Indicators This link opens in a new window
Free access to bibliometric indicators on scientific journals, calculated by Leiden University’s Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) based on the Scopus bibliographic database.

RePEc/IDEAS Rankings
Links to various rankings of research in Economics and related fields.