%0 Journal Article
%T The level of non-citation of articles within a journal as a measure of quality: a comparison to the impact factor
%A Andy R Weale
%A Mick Bailey
%A Paul A Lear
%J BMC Medical Research Methodology
%D 2004
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2288-4-14
%X Total citations gained by October 2003, for every original article and review published in current immunology (13125 articles; 105 journals) and surgical (17083 articles; 120 journals) fields during 2001 were collected using ISI£¿ Web of Science.The distribution of citation of articles within an individual journal is mainly non-parametric throughout the literature. One sixth (16.7%; IQR 13.6¨C19.2) of articles in a journal accrue half the total number of citations to that journal. There was a broader distribution of citation to articles in higher impact journals and in the field of immunology compared to surgery. 23.7% (IQR 14.6¨C42.4) of articles had not yet been cited. Levels of non-citation varied between journals and subject fields. There was a significant negative correlation between the proportion of articles never cited and a journal's impact factor for both immunology (rho = -0.854) and surgery journals (rho = -0.924).Ranking journals by impact factor and non-citation produces similar results. Using a non-citation rate is advantageous as it creates a clear distinction between how citation analysis is used to determine the quality of a journal (low level of non-citation) and an individual article (citation counting). Non-citation levels should therefore be made available for all journals.Impact factors have been used to evaluate the quality of journals for decades[1], and they are finding an increasingly influential role within science[2]. Authors and academic institutions are now frequently judged and funded simply on the basis of publications in a high impact journals[2]. Yet as a quality indicator of individuals and institutions impact factor is frequently criticised and is certainly flawed[3].The impact factor of a journal is arrived at by a simple calculation. For any particular year (e.g. 2002), it is defined as the number of citations in that year (i.e. 2002), to articles published in the two previous years (i.e. 2001 and 2000), divided by the total numbe
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2288/4/14