8

While searching a Thomson indexed journal to submit to, I found this one : http://www.bepls.com And they are showing different impact factors :

  • Impact Factor: 0.971 [UIF, Germany]
  • Global Impact Factor 0.533 [ Australia]
  • Scientific Journal Impact Factor: 2.59 [ Canada]
  • Scientific Indexing Services Impact Factor: 0.982 [USA]
  • NAAS Rating : 4.95

My question is : what are the differences between all of them, and How can I evaluate the quality of a journal beside its impact factor. Thanks! Screenshot of the search result showing the values mentioned above

1

1 Answer 1

17

They are fake impact factors, or bogus impact factors.

For instance, the first two you name (Universal Impact Factor, or UIF, and Global Impact Factor, or GIF) were identified as fake impact factors by this paper in 2015. Some others on that list are in the 'list of misleading and fake metrics'.

The original Impact Factor (IF; or Journal Impact Factor, JIF) is the one calculated by Web of Science (which belongs to Clarivate Analytics, or formerly to ISI which belonged to Thomson Reuters).

I just checked the Journal Citations Reports (JCR) of Web of Science. (The JCR is the section where you can find the JIFs). The journal you link to, BEPLS (or Bulletin of Environment, Pharmacology and Life Sciences), can not be found there.

In other words, it does not have an Impact Factor (other than the fake ones).

(EDIT: As you mentioned in your edited post and in the comment, the journal is listed in the Master Journal List. To be clear, it is in the "Zoological Record" index of Web of Science, and not in the SCI, or Science Citation Index, which may be the reason why the journal does not have a JIF. But I am too unfamiliar with the "Zoological Record"-part of Web of Science to know the details.)

It is most likely a predatory journal. Beware.

3
  • Thanks a lot for the clarifications. One thing I don't agree with you on is the fact that the journal is not indexed in Thomson, it is actually indexed I could find it. Don't copy paste the ISSN, but instead type it and it will show up or copy paste the title that worked for me. That's why I was confused. is it possible to have such misleading Journals indexed by Thomson ?
    – mac179
    Commented Feb 14, 2021 at 21:42
  • 8
    Indexing means very little. Commented Feb 14, 2021 at 22:18
  • 1
    Thank you, Amine Chadi - - see my edited post. I meant to write that the journal is not in the JCR (where the JIFs are located). But you are right that it is indeed in the Master Journal List. There may be various reasons though why a journal is "indexed" but without a JIF - most often, this is due to a journal being indexed in the ESCI-part of Web of Science. In the present case, the journal is indexed in the "Zoological Records"-part, with which I am too unfamiliar to say something in detail. Whatever the background, the journal you name does not have an Impact Factor.
    – anpami
    Commented Feb 15, 2021 at 7:25

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .