---
title: "Journal impact factor: formula, variables and example"
description: "Journal impact factor explained: variables, a worked example, related methods and assumptions. Citations in year y to a journal's items of the two previous years, per citable item (Clarivate's definition)."
url: https://scholar4ai.com/equations/journal-impact-factor
markdown_url: https://scholar4ai.com/equations/journal-impact-factor.md
license: CC BY-NC 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)
share_text: "Journal impact factor explained: variables, a worked example, related methods and assumptions. Citations in year y to a journal's items of the two previous years, per citable item (Clarivate's definition). (as of 2026-11-05)"
data_url: https://scholar4ai.com/data/rankings.json
updated: 2026-11-05T06:02:37+09:00
window: 2026-10-07 to 2026-11-05
source: OpenAlex (CC0)
---

# Journal impact factor

$$
JIF_y = \frac{C_y(P_{y-1}) + C_y(P_{y-2})}{N_{y-1} + N_{y-2}}
$$

Citations in year y to a journal's items of the two previous years, per citable item (Clarivate's definition).

- area: Bibliometrics
- 1 paper in the last 7 days
- Names searched for: journal impact factor, JIF

Back to the ranking: https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/equations.md

## Variables and notation

JIF_y is the year-y journal metric; C_y(P_(y−1)) and C_y(P_(y−2)) count year-y citations to the previous two years' content; N counts eligible citable items for those years.

## Worked example

If the numerator is 300 citations and eligible items are 40+60=100, the illustrative JIF is 3.0.

## Related methods and when to use them

Clarivate's Journal Impact Factor uses its own coverage and eligibility rules; OpenAlex mean citedness and Scopus CiteScore are separate metrics. This arithmetic example is not an official metric for any journal.

## Compare these formulas

- [h-index](/equations/h-index)
- [Field-weighted citation impact](/equations/field-weighted-citation-impact)

## Sources and further reading

- [Clarivate: Journal Impact Factor definition and interpretation](https://clarivate.com/academia-government/essays/impact-factor/)

Examples use illustrative inputs, not observed research results. Logarithms are natural unless stated otherwise. Guide updated 2026-11-05. Prepared by Scholar4AI. [Editorial and verification policy](/editorial-policy).

## Key findings

- Journal impact factor was mentioned in 6 papers in the last 30 days (2026-10-07 to 2026-11-05), ranking #168 of the 248 equations and models mentioned.
- By journal category: Higher Education and Research (5) and Finance (1).
- Most of them appeared in Scientometrics (3), International Journal of STEM Education (1) and Minerva (1).
- Often mentioned together with Field-weighted citation impact (2), Instrumental variables (two-stage least squares) (2) and Propensity score matching (2).
- Datasets named in the same papers: S&P 500 (1), Economic Policy Uncertainty index (1) and Facebook (1).
- From Nov 2023 to Oct 2026, 255 archived papers mentioned Journal impact factor in their title, abstract, keywords or full text, most of them in Mar 2026 (11).
- From 2017 to 2026 (so far), Journal impact factor was mentioned in 421 papers in the tracked journals, most of them in higher education and research (253), management (41) and economics (32).
- 85 of them were published in 2025, against 29 in 2017.
- Since 2023, the institutions with the most of these papers were University of Rome Tor Vergata (8), University of Sheffield (8) and KU Leuven (7).
- The journals publishing most of them were Scientometrics (94), Journal of Informetrics (23) and BMC Medical Research Methodology (15).
- The most-cited of them is “How to design bibliometric research: an overview and a framework proposal” (Review of Managerial Science, 2024), with 739 citations.

## Mentions over 36 months

*Papers mentioning it by publication month, Nov 2023 to Oct 2026 (titles, abstracts, keywords and full texts)*

| Trend | Nov 23–Oct 24 | Nov 24–Oct 25 | Nov 25–Oct 26 | 36 months |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|
|  | 77 | 81 | 97 | 255 |

## Papers per year

*Papers per publication year and category*

| Category | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 (so far) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| [Higher Education and Research](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/higher-education-and-research.md) | 25 | 18 | 15 | 21 | 18 | 8 | 21 | 44 | 38 | 45 |
| [Management](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/management.md) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 16 | 11 |
| [Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/economics.md) | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 6 |
| [Statistics](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/statistics.md) | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 4 |
| [AI](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/ai.md) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 1 |
| [Health Economics and Policy](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/health-economics-and-policy.md) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| [Information Systems](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/information-systems.md) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| [Operations Research](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/operations-research.md) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| [Finance](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/finance.md) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| [Marketing](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/marketing.md) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| [Tourism and Hospitality](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/tourism-and-hospitality.md) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| [Accounting](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/accounting.md) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| All categories | 29 | 25 | 23 | 29 | 20 | 17 | 41 | 69 | 85 | 83 |

## Where the papers come from

*Journals with the most papers, since 2023*

| # | Journal | Papers |
|---:|---|---:|
| 1 | [Scientometrics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/scientometrics.md) | 94 |
| 2 | [Journal of Informetrics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-informetrics.md) | 23 |
| 3 | [BMC Medical Research Methodology](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/bmc-medical-research-methodology.md) | 15 |
| 4 | [Research Policy](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/research-policy.md) | 9 |
| 5 | [Minerva](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/minerva.md) | 6 |
| 6 | [Journal of the Knowledge Economy](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-the-knowledge-economy.md) | 6 |
| 7 | [Management Review Quarterly](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/management-review-quarterly.md) | 6 |
| 8 | [Quality & Quantity](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/quality-quantity.md) | 5 |
| 9 | [The Journal of Academic Librarianship](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/the-journal-of-academic-librarianship.md) | 4 |
| 10 | [Artificial Intelligence Review](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/artificial-intelligence-review.md) | 4 |

*Institutions with the most papers, since 2023*

| # | Institution | Papers |
|---:|---|---:|
| 1 | University of Rome Tor Vergata | 8 |
| 2 | [University of Sheffield](https://scholar4ai.com/institutions/university-of-sheffield.md) | 8 |
| 3 | [KU Leuven](https://scholar4ai.com/institutions/ku-leuven.md) | 7 |
| 4 | Mercatorum University | 7 |
| 5 | [Texas A&M University](https://scholar4ai.com/institutions/texas-a-m-university.md) | 5 |
| 6 | Universidad Complutense de Madrid | 5 |
| 7 | [University of Technology Sydney](https://scholar4ai.com/institutions/university-of-technology-sydney.md) | 5 |
| 8 | [Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique](https://scholar4ai.com/institutions/centre-national-de-la-recherche-scientifique.md) | 4 |
| 9 | [Leiden University](https://scholar4ai.com/institutions/leiden-university.md) | 4 |
| 10 | Ludovika University of Public Service | 4 |

*Countries with the most papers, since 2023*

| # | Country | Papers |
|---:|---|---:|
| 1 | United States | 41 |
| 2 | Germany | 40 |
| 3 | China | 38 |
| 4 | United Kingdom | 29 |
| 5 | Spain | 28 |
| 6 | Italy | 26 |
| 7 | Australia | 20 |
| 8 | Netherlands | 15 |
| 9 | Canada | 11 |
| 10 | Austria | 10 |

*Keywords with the most papers, since 2023*

| # | Keyword | Papers |
|---:|---|---:|
| 1 | journal impact factor | 69 |
| 2 | research evaluation | 37 |
| 3 | citation impact | 29 |
| 4 | citation analysis | 18 |
| 5 | bibliometric analysis | 17 |
| 6 | peer review | 16 |
| 7 | scholarly publishing | 14 |
| 8 | citation counts | 13 |
| 9 | citation metrics | 13 |
| 10 | research productivity | 13 |

## Most-cited papers

*Most-cited papers since 2017*

| # | Citations | Per month | Title | Journal | Published | Authors |
|---:|---:|---:|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 739 | 23.1 | [How to design bibliometric research: an overview and a framework proposal](https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-024-00738-0) | [Review of Managerial Science](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/review-of-managerial-science.md) | 2024-03-06 | Oğuzhan Öztürk, Rıdvan Kocaman, Dominik Kurt Kanbach |
| 2 | 545 | 4.9 | [Bias against novelty in science: A cautionary tale for users of bibliometric indicators](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2017.06.006) | [Research Policy](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/research-policy.md) | 2017-07-20 | Jian Wang, Reinhilde Veugelers, Paula E. Stephan |
| 3 | 134 | 1.4 | [Predicting publication long-term impact through a combination of early citations and journal impact factor](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2018.11.003) | [Journal of Informetrics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-informetrics.md) | 2018-11-26 | Giovanni Abramo, Ciriaco Andrea D’Angelo, Giovanni Felici |
| 4 | 124 | 1.2 | [Could scientists use Altmetric.com scores to predict longer term citation counts?](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2018.01.008) | [Journal of Informetrics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-informetrics.md) | 2018-01-30 | Mike A Thelwall, Tamara Nevill |
| 5 | 108 | 0.9 | [CiteScore: A cite for sore eyes, or a valuable, transparent metric?](https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-017-2250-0) | [Scientometrics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/scientometrics.md) | 2017-01-21 | Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva, Aamir Raoof Memon |
| 6 | 95 | 0.9 | [Bias against research on gender bias](https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-018-2667-0) | [Scientometrics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/scientometrics.md) | 2018-02-17 | Aleksandra Cisłak, Magdalena Formanowicz, Tamar Saguy |
| 7 | 88 | 0.8 | [Publish or perish: how Central and Eastern European economists have dealt with the ever-increasing academic publishing requirements 2000–2015](https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-017-2332-z) | [Scientometrics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/scientometrics.md) | 2017-03-09 | Martin Grančay, Jolita Vveinhardt, Ērika Šumilo |
| 8 | 86 | 1.2 | [Funding research in Brazil](https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-020-03762-5) | [Scientometrics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/scientometrics.md) | 2020-11-19 | Concepta Margaret Mcmanus, Abilio Afonso Baeta Neves |
| 9 | 79 | 0.7 | [Can the journal impact factor be used as a criterion for the selection of junior researchers? A large-scale empirical study based on ResearcherID data](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2017.06.001) | [Journal of Informetrics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-informetrics.md) | 2017-06-30 | Lutz Bornmann, Richard Allen Williams |
| 10 | 76 | 1.0 | [Public funding and the ascent of Chinese science: Evidence from the National Natural Science Foundation of China](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2020.103983) | [Research Policy](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/research-policy.md) | 2020-04-28 | Albert G.Z. Hu |

Archive counts by publication year: a paper counts when its title, abstract or keywords name the equation, or when OpenAlex's full-text search finds it there (searched for the last 30 days' papers and, by a pass over the past years, for older ones). Names added to the list later are looked for in older papers as the archive is read again.

*Papers mentioning Journal impact factor, newest first.*

| Date | Title | Journal | Authors | Affiliations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-30 | [Do awards make scholars shine brighter? The halo effect on research career in Taiwan](https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-026-05877-7) | [Scientometrics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/scientometrics.md) | Chien Hsiang Liao, Pei‐Shan Chi | Fu Jen Catholic University; KU Leuven |
| 2026-10-22 | [Internationalizing STEM education as a distinct and globally established field of scholarship](https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-026-00654-7) | [International Journal of STEM Education](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/international-journal-of-stem-education.md) | Yeping Li | Texas A&M University |
| 2026-10-21 | [Constructing Credibility: Epistemic Cultures and the Evaluation of Scientific Knowledge Across Disciplines in Egyptian Public Universities](https://doi.org/10.1007/s11024-026-09666-7) | [Minerva](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/minerva.md) | Mohamed Gomaa, Hosam Hefny, Gabrallah Salman | Suez University |
| 2026-10-08 | [Metric capital: how academic indicators become interactional resource](https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-026-05848-y) | [Scientometrics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/scientometrics.md) | Łukasz Remisiewicz | University of Gdańsk |
| 2026-10-08 | [Behavioral drivers of cryptocurrency markets: A systematic review](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbef.2026.101265) | [Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-behavioral-and-experimental-finance.md) | Sebastian Steindl, Hans Rüdiger Kaufmann, Bernd Britzelmaier | University of Nicosia; University of Applied Management Studies; Pforzheim University of Applied Sciences |
| 2026-10-08 | [Are large language models able to predict highly cited papers? Evidence from statistical publications](https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-026-05839-z) | [Scientometrics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/scientometrics.md) | Zhanshuo Ye, Yiming Hou, Rui Pan et al. | Central University of Finance and Economics; Peking University |

## Cite this page

Scholar4AI. (2026). Journal impact factor. Journal and Conference Research Rankings. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://scholar4ai.com/equations/journal-impact-factor

```bibtex
@misc{scholar4ai-equations-journal-impact-factor,
  author = {{Scholar4AI}},
  title = {Journal impact factor},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://scholar4ai.com/equations/journal-impact-factor}},
  urldate = {2026-11-05},
  note = {Journal and Conference Research Rankings; data from OpenAlex (CC0); licensed CC BY-NC 4.0}
}
```

License: CC BY-NC 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).