Open-access journal eLife to lose 'impact factor'

Area of Science:

• Bibliometrics and scientometrics
• Scholarly communication analysis
• Publishing industry studies

Background:

• The study examines the influence of non-traditional peer-review models on research metrics.
• Specifically, it investigates how a publisher's unique peer-review system affects indexing in major databases like Web of Science.

Discussion:

• The unusual peer-review model employed by the publisher leads to the inclusion of specific metrics in the Web of Science index.
• Analysis reveals a direct correlation between the novel peer-review approach and the resulting bibliometric data.
• This highlights the need for transparency and standardization in peer-review practices.

Key Insights:

• Web of Science indexing is directly influenced by the publisher's distinct peer-review methodology.
• The study quantifies the impact of this unusual model on research performance metrics.
• Understanding these influences is crucial for accurate research evaluation.

Outlook:

• Future research should explore the long-term effects of diverse peer-review models on scholarly metrics.
• Recommendations for standardizing peer-review reporting to ensure consistent data integrity.
• Potential development of new metrics that better capture the nuances of varied peer-review systems.