Web of Science has long been the gold standard for publishing scientific articles. This international database is widely used to assess the scientific contribution of scientists, distribute grants, and rank journals. In this article we will review the main Web of Science metrics that are important for every researcher to know.
Key metrics of the Web of Science scientometric database
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Journal Impact Factor (JIF)
Journal Impact Factor (JIF) is one of the main indicators of a journal's scientific impact. It shows how often articles from this publication are cited in other scientific publications.
Calculation of Journal Impact Factor:
JIF = (number of citations of journal articles for the last 2 years) / (total number of articles published in this journal for the same 2 years).
The higher this indicator is, the more influential the journal is considered to be. For example, publications with an impact factor above 10 are in the top league of scientific publications, especially in the fields of medicine, biology and physics. However, it is important to realise that impact factor is a metric of a journal, not of a particular article or author. Nevertheless, publications in publications with a high impact factor significantly increase the scientific reputation of a researcher.
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Journal Citation Indicator (JCI)
Journal Citation Indicator (JCI) is a relatively new scientometric indicator introduced in 2021 in the Web of Science database. It shows how well a journal's articles are cited compared to the average citation rate in a given scientific field. Its purpose is to remove the limitations of the traditional impact factor and make comparisons between journals more fair, especially if they belong to different disciplines.
For example, articles in maths and history are cited less frequently than those in biotechnology or clinical medicine, and the JCI helps to take this into account. A JCI value above 1 means that a journal is cited more often than average in its subject category. This makes the index particularly valuable when selecting a journal for publication - it allows to compare publications in different fields of science on equal terms.
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Citation Index
Citation Index is the total number of citations a researcher or a particular article has received in the Web of Science database. Citation Index shows scientific influence - the more citations, the higher the interest in the research and, therefore, its importance in the scientific community.
The citation index helps to rank universities, research groups and individual scientists. In combination with other metrics, it is used in awarding degrees, hiring, and in the process of allocating funding for research projects.
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Journal Quartile
Another important indicator is the quartile to which the journal belongs. In the Web of Science system, all scientific journals are divided into four quartiles: Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4. The distribution is made within each subject category and is based on impact factor. Journals in the first quartile (Q1) are the most cited and prestigious, while journals Q3-Q4 are ranked at the bottom, but are nevertheless considered authoritative because they are indexed in WoS.
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Journal Percentile
Related to the quartile, but gives a more detailed picture - the percentile shows where the journal ranks in terms of citations in its category compared to others. For example, a journal with a percentile of 95 is among the top 5% most cited journals in its field. Unlike the quartile, the percentile provides more accurate information and is especially useful when comparing journals of similar level.
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