Journal impact factors (JIFs) are widely used and promoted but have importantlimitations. In particular, JIFs can be unduly influenced by individual highlycited articles and hence are inherently unstable. A logical way to reduce theimpact of individual high citation counts is to use the geometric mean ratherthan the standard mean in JIF calculations. Based upon journal rankings2004-2014 in 50 sub-categories within 5 broad categories, this study shows thatjournal rankings based on JIF variants tend to be more stable over time if thegeometric mean is used rather than the standard mean. The same is true for JIFvariants using Mendeley reader counts instead of citation counts. Thus,although the difference is not large, the geometric mean is recommended insteadof the arithmetic mean for future JIF calculations. In addition, Mendeleyreadership-based JIF variants are as stable as those using Scopus citations,confirming the value of Mendeley readership as an academic impact indicator.
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