The question, "How can the impact of an article be accurately assessed beyond citation counts or journal impact factors?", challenges the reliance on traditional metrics, like citation counts or journal impact factors (JIF), as the primary indicators of an article's value or influence. It invites a discussion on alternative ways to evaluate an article's true impact in a broader and more meaningful context.
I think that the real impact of a publication cannot be expressed with a single value. I even doubt that it can really be measured. Citation numbers have only a statistical value. For a single publication, the number of citations does not necessarily reflect its true impact. The same holds for journals. Science is a rather complex process with many dimensions.
See these discussions with critiscism of the current system of metrics:
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Petition_Stop_Tracking_Science/1
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Your_opinion_about_the_following_link/1
https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_do_you_think_about_scientific_production_evaluation_indices_such_as_those_of_Hirsch_h_or_Google_Scholar_i10_or_others/1
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Research_Publications_Impact_factor_H-Index_I-Index_Is_these_words_becoming_root_cause_for_stress_nowadays_rather_than_Passionate/1
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Why_do_bibliometric_studies_get_so_much_attention_in_todays_world_of_academia/1
https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_are_impacts_researchers_can_create_beyond_citations_and_how_to_create_them/1
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Death_of_impact_factor_system/1
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Is_Impact_factor_to_be_avoided_from_journal_metrices_soon/1
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Impact_Factor_why_did_it_take_so_long_to_bury_this_stupid_variable/1
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Is-there-something-wrong-with-the-impact-factor/1
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Do_impact_factors_mean_anything_between_subjects/1
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Why_are_impact_factors_important_and_how_could_we_make_better_short-term_metrics_for_the_value_of_scientific_research/1
Thank you so much. I will look through the links you sent...
Wont be bad to get various insight. I look forward to more responses on this.
Hello Arnold Ebuka Irabor
I totally agree with the point by Dr Wolfgang R. Dick that metrics like those used are somewhat unhelpful. I say that from the point of view that my articles that got the most interest (with people calling me by telephone or emailing me) actually never got cited.
In fact, one of my project ideas currently will end up being used for reference ranges in some places after I publish that info for a journal article but will probably not ever get any citations in other journal articles. I do not think it should stop me from carrying out this research.
- Badges
- Science method
- Similar topics
- Biological Science
- Ecology