What is an impact factor? Definition and explaination

Impact factor

Harvard Business Review impact factor

What is an impact factor?

The impact factor (IF) of a journal is a description of the influence the journal has in academic or university research circles. It is is a measure of how often the average research article in a journal has been cited or used in other research in any particular year.  The IF is used to measure the importance or rank of a journal by calculating the times it’s articles are cited. The higher the IF the more influential the journal.

Nature is the highest rated journal with an IF of 38.12

The Harvard Business Review has the lowest IF at 0.72

See also: Harvard Business Review Impact factor

The Big difference between The Oxford Review and The Harvard Business Review

Back to The Oxford Review Encyclopaedia of Terms

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