Median and percentile impact factors: A set of new indicators

Abstract

In a recent article Sombatsompop et al. (2004) proposed a new way of calculating a synchronous journal impact factor. Their proposal seems quite interesting and will be discussed in this note. Their index will be referred as the Median Impact Factor (MIF). I explain every step in detail so that readers with little mathematical background can understand and apply the procedure. Illustrations of the procedure are presented. Some attention is given to the estimation of the median cited age in case it is larger than ten year. I think the idea introduced by Sombatsompop, Markpin and Premkamolnetr has a great theoretical value as they are - to the best of my knowledge - the first ones to consider impact factors not using years as a basic ingredient, but an element of the actual form of the citation curve. The MIF is further generalized to the notion of a percentile impact factor.