Too much impact for the impact factor: Are a new generation of scientists in peril? [Trop d'impact pour le facteur d'Impact: Une nouvelle génération des scientifiques sont-elles dans le péril?]

摘要

The way we publish has changed dramatically over the last 30+ years. In the past, most of us had a general understanding of which journals were the premier journals and which ones were of lesser importance. When grant applications were being reviewed for funding on national review panels, there was a general consensus on which journals constituted tight peer review and which ones were less prestigious. Grant ratings were adjusted accordingly. There were no impact factors to definitively gauge the journal quality, and the words "impact factor" were never uttered by scientists. The identification of first tier journals was relegated then to discussions amongst scientists, and vague impressions of the overall quality of the papers being published in one journal by comparison with another. And maybe it was, although never acknowledged, a bit about who was publishing in some journals and who was not.