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Where should family medicine papers be published - following the impact factor?
Roni Peleg1, Pesach Shvartzman
1Department of Family Medicine, Sial Family Medicine and Primary Care Research Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel. pelegr@bgu.ac.il
Insights
Family physicians
Area of Science:
- Family Medicine
- Medical Education
- Bibliometrics
Background:
- Academic institutions evaluate research contributions for physician promotion.
- Journal publication is a key metric in this evaluation.
- The Impact Factor (IF) is widely used to assess journal importance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To inform family physicians about the significance of the Impact Factor (IF) in academic promotion.
- To discuss the implications of IF on publication choices for family physicians.
- To highlight the controversy surrounding IF in research evaluation.
Main Methods:
- Literature review on Impact Factor calculation and its use in academic settings.
- Analysis of the role of IF in academic promotion criteria for family physicians.
- Discussion of the trade-offs between publishing in high-IF journals versus primary care-focused journals.
Main Results:
- The Impact Factor (IF) significantly influences academic promotion decisions.
- Most family medicine journals have an IF below 2.0, potentially hindering promotion.
- Publishing in high-IF, non-primary care journals may limit the direct impact on patient care.
Conclusions:
- Family physicians must understand the IF and its calculation for career advancement.
- Publication strategies should balance academic promotion needs with the goal of impacting primary care.
- The limitations and controversies of IF in evaluating research in family medicine warrant consideration.
Abstract:
Academic institutions weigh the research contribution of family physicians and take this factor into account when determining eligibility for the candidates' promotion. Among other parameters, these institutions consider the journals in which family physicians publish. In this respect, the impact factor (IF) has gained a foothold as one of the most accepted means to measure this contribution. The IF may be a measure of the main importance of a scientific journal. IF has a huge, but controversial, influence on the perception and evaluation of published scientific research. It is important for family physicians to understand and be aware of the importance of the IF and the way it is calculated. The IF is one consideration in the decision-making process of a researcher as to where to publish because the IF of most family medicine journals is less than 2.0. Thus publication in these journals might not yield the proper "score" for academic promotion in many institutions. On the other hand, publication in journals with higher IF that are not necessarily widely read by primary care physicians could result in a small impact of their findings on direct patient care.
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