Reflecting on Research Impact: Why Impact Factors Aren’t Everything

The 2024 Clarivate Journal Citation Reports (JCR) and impact factors (IF) have been released recently. These reports are a resource that ranks journals by field, giving researchers, institutions, and publishers one way to assess their significance in the global research landscape.  Impact factors are calculated by considering the ratio of cited and published work over the past three years, which results in a number that can give users a quick and quantitative impression of journal impact.

While Sage is pleased to see consistent growth of our journals within the reports, with seven of our journals being classified as ‘category leading’ across the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) and the Science Citation Index (SCIE); we are keen to emphasize that impact factors are not the only way to assess journal or research quality.

Our commitment to balanced, broad, and responsible research is encapsulated by our support for the principles of the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA). As Ziyad Marar, president of global publishing at Sage has said:

"One size does not fit all when we talk of research impact or excellence... Social scientists and publishers of social science all know that impact is a complex, subtle, and many-layered effect that accumulates through time. Yet we focus so much on a simple and blunt measure of a journal’s reputation with significant unintended consequences."

To get a fuller understanding of why this approach matters, read this article by Ziyad Marar, in the journal, Organization Studies: ‘On Measuring Social Science Impact’.

Over the past couple of years Sage has made good on this promise, rolling out Sage Policy Profiles, a 10-year impact award  and more.

Sage Policy Profiles is a tool which uses data from Overton to allow researchers to track and visualize how their research has been cited in policy from governments, think tanks, and policymakers. It demonstrates the often-overlooked power of social science in real-life decision making and the political landscape.

More recently, Sage has announced the fifth annual winners of our 10-year impact awards. By surveying the impact of a piece of research over a decade, the award intends to shine a light on the more nebulous impacts of research that only become clear with time. As Ziyad Marar says,

“Citations represent one part of the picture, but even then, relying on two years of influence since publication overlooks the important contributions of SBS [social and behavioral science] that are more diffuse and long-term.”

These two projects sit alongside many impact initiatives including an Impact in Action Writing Contest, curated posts about measuring and promoting research impact on the Social Science Space blog, a course by Epigeum: “Research Impact: Creating Meaning and Value,” aimed at helping researchers define, plan, and communicate their research projects for impact, and more.

Learn more about the other ways Sage is committed to DORA.