Causes for the Persistence of Impact Factor Mania

ABSTRACT Numerous essays have addressed the misuse of the journal impact factor for judging the value of science, but the practice continues, primarily as a result of the actions of scientists themselves. This seemingly irrational behavior is referred to as “impact factor mania.” Although the litera...

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Autores principales:	Arturo Casadevall, Ferric C. Fang
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	American Society for Microbiology 2014
Materias:	Microbiology QR1-502
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/118a47c0985c4a728dde35b8dbc36939
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:118a47c0985c4a728dde35b8dbc369392021-11-15T15:45:14ZCauses for the Persistence of Impact Factor Mania10.1128/mBio.00064-142150-7511https://doaj.org/article/118a47c0985c4a728dde35b8dbc369392014-05-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mBio.00064-14https://doaj.org/toc/2150-7511ABSTRACT Numerous essays have addressed the misuse of the journal impact factor for judging the value of science, but the practice continues, primarily as a result of the actions of scientists themselves. This seemingly irrational behavior is referred to as “impact factor mania.” Although the literature on the impact factor is extensive, little has been written on the underlying causes of impact factor mania. In this perspective, we consider the reasons for the persistence of impact factor mania and its pernicious effects on science. We conclude that impact factor mania persists because it confers significant benefits to individual scientists and journals. Impact factor mania is a variation of the economic theory known as the “tragedy of the commons,” in which scientists act rationally in their own self-interests despite the detrimental consequences of their actions on the overall scientific enterprise. Various measures to reduce the influence of the impact factor are considered. IMPORTANCE Science and scientists are currently afflicted by an epidemic of mania manifested by associating the value of research with the journal where the work is published rather than the content of the work itself. The mania is causing profound distortions in the way science is done that are deleterious to the overall scientific enterprise. In this essay, we consider the forces responsible for the persistence of the mania and conclude that it is maintained because it disproportionately benefits elements of the scientific enterprise, including certain well-established scientists, journals, and administrative interests. Our essay suggests steps that can be taken to deal with this debilitating and destructive epidemic.Arturo CasadevallFerric C. FangAmerican Society for MicrobiologyarticleMicrobiologyQR1-502ENmBio, Vol 5, Iss 2 (2014)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Microbiology QR1-502
spellingShingle	Microbiology QR1-502 Arturo Casadevall Ferric C. Fang Causes for the Persistence of Impact Factor Mania
description	ABSTRACT Numerous essays have addressed the misuse of the journal impact factor for judging the value of science, but the practice continues, primarily as a result of the actions of scientists themselves. This seemingly irrational behavior is referred to as “impact factor mania.” Although the literature on the impact factor is extensive, little has been written on the underlying causes of impact factor mania. In this perspective, we consider the reasons for the persistence of impact factor mania and its pernicious effects on science. We conclude that impact factor mania persists because it confers significant benefits to individual scientists and journals. Impact factor mania is a variation of the economic theory known as the “tragedy of the commons,” in which scientists act rationally in their own self-interests despite the detrimental consequences of their actions on the overall scientific enterprise. Various measures to reduce the influence of the impact factor are considered. IMPORTANCE Science and scientists are currently afflicted by an epidemic of mania manifested by associating the value of research with the journal where the work is published rather than the content of the work itself. The mania is causing profound distortions in the way science is done that are deleterious to the overall scientific enterprise. In this essay, we consider the forces responsible for the persistence of the mania and conclude that it is maintained because it disproportionately benefits elements of the scientific enterprise, including certain well-established scientists, journals, and administrative interests. Our essay suggests steps that can be taken to deal with this debilitating and destructive epidemic.
format	article
author	Arturo Casadevall Ferric C. Fang
author_facet	Arturo Casadevall Ferric C. Fang
author_sort	Arturo Casadevall
title	Causes for the Persistence of Impact Factor Mania
title_short	Causes for the Persistence of Impact Factor Mania
title_full	Causes for the Persistence of Impact Factor Mania
title_fullStr	Causes for the Persistence of Impact Factor Mania
title_full_unstemmed	Causes for the Persistence of Impact Factor Mania
title_sort	causes for the persistence of impact factor mania
publisher	American Society for Microbiology
publishDate	2014
url	https://doaj.org/article/118a47c0985c4a728dde35b8dbc36939
work_keys_str_mv	AT arturocasadevall causesforthepersistenceofimpactfactormania AT ferriccfang causesforthepersistenceofimpactfactormania
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Causes for the Persistence of Impact Factor Mania

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