journal metrics

Journal metrics, with titles such as Journal Impact Factor, Immediacy Index, Eigenfactor Score and Article Influence Score, can seem fairly puzzling.  This is particularly the case when they are often presented as a single number without any other context or definition.  It has also been well documented, both by Nature Research and others, that they are often taken out of context or used to assess something for which they are not intended, notably individual researcher performance.  Read more