Science journals artfully try to boost their rankings
Sharon Begley. Wall Street Journal. (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: Jun 5, 2006. pg. B.1
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Richard Wootton, editor of JTT, says that he believes it’s true that his journal cites its competitor less frequently than Dr. [Rashid Bashshur]’s journal cites JTT, “but it doesn’t seem to me that there is a sinister explanation.” Dr. Wootton adds that “when we edit a paper . . . we sometimes ask authors to ensure that the relevant literature is cited.” But “I can state unequivocally that we do not attempt to manipulate the JTT’s impact factor. For a start, I wouldn’t know how to.”
“If you look at journals that have a high impact factor, they tend to be trendy,” says immunologist David Woodland of the nonprofit Trudeau Institute, of Saranac Lake, N.Y., and the incoming editor of Viral Immunology. He recalls one journal that accepted immunology papers only if they focused on the development of thymus cells, a once-hot topic. “It’s hard to get into them if you’re ahead of the curve.”
Journals’ “questionable” steps to raise their impact factors “affect the public,” Ms. [Liebert] says. “Ultimately, funding is allocated to scientists and topics perceived to be of the greatest importance. If impact factor is being manipulated, then scientists and studies that seem important will be funded perhaps at the expense of those that seem less important.”
