Clarivate has announced changes to the Journal Citation Reports™ that will come into effect in the 2023 release.
The Journal Impact Factor (JIF) will be expanded to all journals that are indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection. Formerly, only journals in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) and the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) received impact factors. The 2023 release of the JCR will also provide impact factors for journals from the Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI) and the multidisciplinary Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI).
According to Clarivate, this change could help to level the playing field for quality journals that have been recently launched, are open access, have a smaller or regional scope, or are published in the Global South. Quality measures for inclusion in the Web of Science Core Collection include aspects such as clear identification of the journal and its contact details, a peer-review policy and ethics statements, clarity of language, clear identification of authors and editorial board members, adherence to policies and best practices, and appropriate citations to the literature.
In addition, the impact factor in the 2023 release of the Journal Citation Reports will be displayed with only one decimal place instead of the currently used three decimal places. This change is supposed to encourage users of the JCR to also consider other indicators besides the Journal Impact Factor when comparing journals.
- Clarivate Plc, Philadelphia, USA, and London, UK
