[Journal impact factors in the evaluation of scientific performance]

The most known and used index of the relative citedness of scientific journals is the impact factor. It has gained a broad and growing application in the evaluation of scientific performance in the medical sciences. There are several difficulties however to be overcome in order to establish a correct and reliable method, which will be able to dispel the presently existing distrust in medical, mainly clinical circles. The authors propose a method to solve most of the contradictions. Moreover, it is aimed at complementing the bibliometric evaluation method of the Hungarian domestic publications proposed by the Medical Sciences Faculty of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 1994.