Impact of the impact factor in biomedical research: its use and misuse.

Abstract

The impact factor was created in the biomedical research field in order to measure a journal's value by calculating the average number of citations per article over a period of time. It was initially developed to help libraries decide which highly-cited journals to subscribe to. However, at present, it is being misused to judge the quality of a researcher or medical scientist as well as the quality of the work done. It contains serious sources of errors and flaws, resulting in strong biases against culture- and language-bound medical subspecialties. The present article is aimed to highlight the impact of the impact factor in the biomedical research, as well as its use and misuse.