Journal Impact Factor: Uses and Misuses

As a lecturer of biomedical writing, I have usually been asked about the impact factor of journals and how authors can publish their scientific manuscripts in journals with high impact factors. This is particularly important for faculty members since recently, many officials in Iran evaluate the scientific merit of an article based on the impact factor of the journal that published it. Sometimes, the impact factor is also used for academic career promotion, awarding prize, or allocating research grant to a researcher or research center. However, this issue is not confined to Iran and is a common practice in some other countries.1,2 To see whether it is reasonable to use the journal impact factor to determine the value of an article or evaluation of researchers or research centers, let us see what this index really is.