Examining the Validity of Impact Factors for Journals in the History and Philosophy of Science Category of Science Citation Index

Abstract

This article examines whether impact factors provide information related to the reputation of journals and current research trends in the field of History and Philosophy of Science. It is proposed that evaluating the impact of a journal in the History and Philosophy of Science category of the Science Citation Index should be based on citations of a journal by articles published in other journals in the same category. An examination of different types of data about the journals that are in the Science Citation Index’s History and Philosophy of Science category indicated that the journals included in the top quartile of the 2013 Journal Citation Reports do not have a great impact on this field. The journals most frequently cited by articles in the other journals in the History and Philosophy of Science category also are the journals in which university professors in the field of History and Philosophy of Science frequently publish articles. It appears that the impact factors of journals in the category of History and Philosophy of Science do not reflect the reputations of the journals in this field or current research trends.

KEYWORDS:

• History and Philosophy of Science
• Journal Citation Reports
• Impact Factor
• Science Citation Index

Additional information

Funding

The work described in this article was fully supported by a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. 9042101, CityU 11401914).