What is a good impact factor? - Paperpile (2024)

FAQs

What is a good impact factor? - Paperpile? ›

In general, an impact factor of 10 or higher is considered remarkable, while 3 is good, and the average score is less than 1.

The perception of an impact factor (IF) being considered "high" can vary depending on the field of study. Generally, an impact factor of more than 7 is considered high. However, different disciplines may have different norms and citation practices, which influence these numbers and rankings.

H-index scores between 3 and 5 seem common for new assistant professors, scores between 8 and 12 fairly standard for promotion to the position of tenured associate professor, and scores between 15 and 20 about right for becoming a full professor.

According to Hirsch, a person with 20 years of research experience with an h-index of 20 is considered good, 40 is great, and 60 is remarkable.

In general, an impact factor of 10 or higher is considered remarkable, while 3 is good, and the average score is less than 1. Example. The very prestigious journal Nature had an impact factor of 69.504 in the year 2021.

The top 5% of journals have impact factors approximately equal to or greater than 6 (610 journals or 4.9% of the journals tracked by JCR).

What is a Good H-Index? Hirsch reckons that after 20 years of research, an h-index of 20 is good, 40 is outstanding, and 60 is truly exceptional. In his paper, Hirsch shows that successful scientists do, indeed, have high h-indices: 84% of Nobel Prize winners in physics, for example, had an h-index of at least 30.

On average and good H-index for a PhD student is between 1 and 5, a postdoc between 2 and 17, an assistant professor between 4 – 35 and a full professor typically about 30+. Our comprehensive blog delves into the nuances of the h-index, its relevance in academic promotions, and the challenges it presents.

However, an h-index of Three and Five can be set as standard for assistant professor, 8 to 12 for associate professor and h-index of 15 to 20 is a good standard for appointment to full professor.

Who has the highest h-index? ›

Scientists with High H-Indexes

At the time of writing, the highest score recorded by Google Scholar is 300, by researcher Ronald C Kessler from Harvard University.

Another finding from exploratory analyses is that an h-index at least equal to the number of years since first publications (m-index = 1) may be a good rule of thumb to indicate excellent citation achievement in medicine (19).

In the mass media, PNAS has been described variously as "prestigious", "sedate", "renowned" and "high impact". OCLC no. PNAS is a delayed open-access journal, with an embargo period of six months that can be bypassed for an author fee (hybrid open access).

The PNAS Editorial Board declines 54% of all Direct Submissions at the initial screening, and the overall acceptance rate is only 17%. With the bar set so high, we strive to provide a prompt evaluation for authors.

Nature, Science, and PNAS are the three most prestigious general-science journals, and Nature and Science are among the most influential journals overall, based on the journal Impact Factor (IF).

Generally, journals with higher impact factors are considered more prestigious and influential in their field. An impact factor of 7.5 is relatively high and indicates that the journal is frequently cited by researchers, which suggests that it is highly regarded in the academic community.

In most fields, the impact factor of 10 or greater is considered an excellent score while 3 is flagged as good and the average score is less than 1. This is a rule of thumb. However, the wild card to pay attention to is that impact factor and comparing journals are most effective in the same discipline.

The ISI 5-Year Impact Factor is the average number of times articles from the journal published in the past five years have been cited in the given Journal Citation Report (JCR) year.

The higher the impact factor, the better and the more important the journal is. Out of the 229 categories in which impact factors are computed, in 2020, the median IF was higher than 4 in 11 categories, it was between 3 and 4 in 53 categories, and in the majority, that is, in 165 categories it was lower than 3.