Members of editorial board of any journal frequently face a common question, what is the impact factor of your journal? Even I have faced this situation umpteen number times on various occasions. Therefore I wish to utilize this platform to discuss this important issue. Bogus impact factor agencies and predatory journals are playing on front foot as they have gone one step ahead after assessing the academic market of demand and supply. True academicians need to be cautious about the racket of valid and invalid impact factors.
Authors and readers including academic faculty and especially post-graduate students may be benefited by this editorial. Aim of this activity is to make aware of academicians about true and counterfeit / fake impact factors often used by predatory publishers[1] The impact factor (IF) or Journal impact factor (JIF) is one of the most important measure of appraisal of academic faculty for the purposes of academic evaluation such as selections and promotions used by various universities or institutions in current scenario. Consulting Journal Citation Reports’ master journal list can confirm if a publication is indexed by Journal Citation Reports, which is a necessary (but not sufficient) condition for obtaining an IF. Read more . . .