Impacted Science: Impact Is Not Importance

ABSTRACT The journal impact factor (IF) exerts a tremendous influence on the conduct of scientists. The obsession with IF has been compared to a medical condition, sometimes referred to as “IF mania” or “impactitis.” Here, we analyze the difference between impact and importance, using examples from...

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Autores principales:	Arturo Casadevall, Ferric C. Fang
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	American Society for Microbiology 2015
Materias:	Microbiology QR1-502
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/f253c4390e3d48b7ab284e43d6686844
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:f253c4390e3d48b7ab284e43d66868442021-11-15T15:41:31ZImpacted Science: Impact Is Not Importance10.1128/mBio.01593-152150-7511https://doaj.org/article/f253c4390e3d48b7ab284e43d66868442015-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mBio.01593-15https://doaj.org/toc/2150-7511ABSTRACT The journal impact factor (IF) exerts a tremendous influence on the conduct of scientists. The obsession with IF has been compared to a medical condition, sometimes referred to as “IF mania” or “impactitis.” Here, we analyze the difference between impact and importance, using examples from the history of science to show that these are not equivalent. If impact does not necessarily equal importance, but scientists are focused on high-impact work, there is a danger that misuse of the IF may adversely affect scientific progress. We suggest five measures to fight this malady: (i) diversify journal club selections, (ii) do not judge science on the publication venue, (iii) reduce the reliance on journal citation metrics for employment and advancement, (iv) discuss the misuse of the IF in ethics courses, and (v) cite the most appropriate sources. If IF mania is indeed a medical condition, the most appropriate course of action may be disimpaction.Arturo CasadevallFerric C. FangAmerican Society for MicrobiologyarticleMicrobiologyQR1-502ENmBio, Vol 6, Iss 5 (2015)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Microbiology QR1-502
spellingShingle	Microbiology QR1-502 Arturo Casadevall Ferric C. Fang Impacted Science: Impact Is Not Importance
description	ABSTRACT The journal impact factor (IF) exerts a tremendous influence on the conduct of scientists. The obsession with IF has been compared to a medical condition, sometimes referred to as “IF mania” or “impactitis.” Here, we analyze the difference between impact and importance, using examples from the history of science to show that these are not equivalent. If impact does not necessarily equal importance, but scientists are focused on high-impact work, there is a danger that misuse of the IF may adversely affect scientific progress. We suggest five measures to fight this malady: (i) diversify journal club selections, (ii) do not judge science on the publication venue, (iii) reduce the reliance on journal citation metrics for employment and advancement, (iv) discuss the misuse of the IF in ethics courses, and (v) cite the most appropriate sources. If IF mania is indeed a medical condition, the most appropriate course of action may be disimpaction.
format	article
author	Arturo Casadevall Ferric C. Fang
author_facet	Arturo Casadevall Ferric C. Fang
author_sort	Arturo Casadevall
title	Impacted Science: Impact Is Not Importance
title_short	Impacted Science: Impact Is Not Importance
title_full	Impacted Science: Impact Is Not Importance
title_fullStr	Impacted Science: Impact Is Not Importance
title_full_unstemmed	Impacted Science: Impact Is Not Importance
title_sort	impacted science: impact is not importance
publisher	American Society for Microbiology
publishDate	2015
url	https://doaj.org/article/f253c4390e3d48b7ab284e43d6686844
work_keys_str_mv	AT arturocasadevall impactedscienceimpactisnotimportance AT ferriccfang impactedscienceimpactisnotimportance
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Impacted Science: Impact Is Not Importance

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