North American perception of the prestige of biomechanics serials

Biomechanics is a discipline with many applications and sub-areas so scholars often publish their work in journals in different subject categories used in the ISI Journal Citation Reports (JCR). It is not known whether the quality/prestige of journals in the discipline of biomechanics matches the ISI Impact Factor (IF) ratings reported in JCR. A survey of the membership of the American Society of Biomechanics (ASB) was conducted to rate the quality/prestige of typical papers in serials publishing biomechanics research on a five point scale. Seventy-eight of 610 ASB members responded to the survey. Mean journal prestige ratings were only weakly correlated (r=0.35) with the IF for 2005, with serial ratings differing across the interest areas of the ASB respondents. It was concluded that IF's should be used with caution in evaluating the prestige of journals publishing biomechanics research. Furthermore, investigators should consider interest area specific ratings within biomechanics when selecting journals for publishing their research.