Eigenfactor
| Discipline | Bibliometrics |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publication details | |
| History | 2007–present |
| Publisher | University of Washington (United States) |
| Standard abbreviations | |
| ISO 4 | EF |
| Links | |
| |
The Eigenfactor is a metric used to assess the influence and prestige of academic journals. It was developed by researchers at the University of Washington and introduced in 2007. The Eigenfactor score is designed to measure the overall impact of a journal within the scientific community, taking into account not only the number of citations received but also the quality of the citing journals.
Overview[edit | edit source]
The Eigenfactor score is based on a network analysis of the journal citation network. It uses an algorithm similar to Google's PageRank to evaluate the importance of each journal. The score is calculated by considering the number of times articles from a journal published in the past five years have been cited in the current year, with citations from more influential journals carrying more weight.
Unlike the Impact Factor, which simply counts citations, the Eigenfactor score accounts for the source of the citations, thus providing a more nuanced view of a journal's influence. The Eigenfactor score is normalized so that the sum of the scores of all journals is 100.
Calculation[edit | edit source]
The Eigenfactor score is calculated using the following steps:
1. Citation Network Construction: A citation network is constructed where nodes represent journals and directed edges represent citations from one journal to another.
2. Weighting Citations: Citations are weighted based on the influence of the citing journal. This is done by assigning a weight to each citation that reflects the Eigenfactor score of the citing journal.
3. Iterative Calculation: An iterative algorithm, similar to the PageRank algorithm, is used to distribute "influence" across the network. Journals that are cited by other influential journals receive higher scores.
4. Normalization: The scores are normalized so that the total Eigenfactor score across all journals is 100.
Applications[edit | edit source]
The Eigenfactor score is used by researchers, librarians, and academic institutions to:
- Evaluate the relative importance of journals within a field. - Make decisions about journal subscriptions and collections. - Assess the impact of research published in different journals.
Limitations[edit | edit source]
While the Eigenfactor provides a more comprehensive measure of journal influence than simple citation counts, it has limitations:
- Field Variation: Different fields have different citation practices, which can affect scores. - Time Lag: The five-year citation window may not capture the immediate impact of recent publications. - Language and Regional Bias: Journals published in English or from certain regions may receive more citations, skewing scores.
Also see[edit | edit source]
External links[edit | edit source]
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