Björn BrembsThe #impactfactor "mostly shows commercial value, current trends, and geopolitical advantage, seldom methodological rigour. "
Journal impact factor: The illusion of scientific excellence:
https://ijfcm.org/archive/volume/13/issue/2/article/27107
Hans ZaunerEditorial in "Development" by Alex Eve and James Briscoe:
"We also have a collective responsibility to challenge how IF [ #ImpactFactor ] is used: in grant reviews, in hiring decisions, in promotion committees. If we believe that research should be judged on its own merit, we need to act on that belief, not just as editors, but as reviewers, as panel members, and as colleagues ."
Albert CardonaFrom Alex Eve (executive director of the society journal Development) and James Briscoe (editor-in-chief of Development):
"We contend that Development is a key example that demonstrates the lack of correlation between the impact factor metric, and the trust, reputation and scientific rigour of the articles we publish."
"The elephant in the room: impact factor"
Alex Eve and James Briscoe, 2026 editorial
https://journals.biologists.com/dev/article/153/12/dev205838/371997/The-elephant-in-the-room-impact-factor
"These findings raise the possibility that paper mill activity has played a role in shaping journal impact factors – and by extension the perceived prestige – of some of the highest-ranked journals in molecular cancer research."
'nuff said.
"Suspected distortion of citations in high-impact cancer journals"
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.05.25.727627v1
Didier RuedinTaking journal glorification to a new level? From a newsletter announcing new research, the highlight was "Nature Portfolio" and journal rank. The only hint we get about the actual research is a generic title. #academia @sociology #publishing #impactfactor #career #signalling #journal #academicchatter
gmcsRE: https://social.sciences.re/@TheMetaNews/116459109768327092
#PublierLaScience Très bon article pour faire le point sur l'indexation des revues dans le #WebOfScience et sur l' #impactfactor. Avec qq exemples de revues très prolixes (25 000 articles en 1 an!).. ou qui se citent elles-mêmes à 93%...
TheMetaNews🟢 Privées d'impact factor
Un indicateur central malgré ses défauts, dont le retrait peut faire voler en éclat la réputation d’une revue et peut-être la vôtre avec
https://themeta.news/ces-revues-qui-perdent-leur-impact-factor/
ndocistLa Chine développe de nouveaux indicateurs #scientometrics pour remplacer l' #impactfactor
STOPDISINFORMATIONmultilevel evaluation system centred on research quality”
“This provides crucial support for moving beyond the dominance of the #impactfactor – a measure of citations published within a given journal over a fixed period – paper counts, while enhancing China’s academic voice,” he said.
Rather than simply counting citations, the #DongbiIndex assesses their quality, constructing a citation network based on the assumption that high-quality papers cite work published in similarly strong journals.
Weekend reads: An alternative to the #impactfactor in China; the clinical trials of six ‘superretractors’; Retraction Watch goes to Capitol Hill – #RetractionWatch
China proposes a new way to measure academic influence in a departure from impact factor.”
Weekend reads: An alternative to the impact factor in China; the clinical trials of six ‘superretractors’; Retraction Watch goes to Capitol Hill
If your week flew by — we know ours did — catch up here with what you might have missed. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Scientist who alleged COVID cover-up circulated a faked NIH email, ag…