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Original Article
- Explosive increase and decrease in articles, citations, impact factor, and immediacy index during the COVID-19 pandemic: a bibliometric study
- Sang-Jun Kim
- Sci Ed. 2024;11(2):107-113. Published online June 26, 2024
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.6087/kcse.334
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- 3 Web of Science
- 3 Crossref
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Abstract
PDF - Purpose
This study investigated how Journal Citation Reports (JCR) metrics changed during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2022), with the aim of sharing this information with stakeholders in the publishing community.
Methods
In total, 7,689 journals listed in the JCR-Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) from 2016 to 2022 were selected. Data were analyzed using pivot tables in Microsoft Excel. We calculated the compound annual growth rate to investigate changes in JCR-SCIE articles, citations, the journal impact factor, and the immediacy index during the COVID-19 period.
Results
A marked increase was noted in the number of articles and citations during the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2022. This surge was primarily driven by a significant rise in COVID-19–related articles. Consequently, four JCR metrics exhibited a sharp increase in 2020, followed by an unusually steep decline in 2022. Articles, citations, and the journal impact factor reached their highest recorded levels in 2021, while the immediacy index saw its most significant growth and intense citation activity in 2020 before experiencing notable decreases in 2021 and 2022. Our findings indicate that there was an unprecedented and dramatic shift in these four JCR metrics during the COVID-19 period, with current trends suggesting a reversion to historical compound annual growth rate levels.
Conclusion
The journal publishing and scientific communities should consider these explosive changes when applying JCR metrics to evaluate articles and endeavor to mitigate the adverse effects of the unusual concentration of articles and citations during the COVID-19 period. These results constitute valuable information to be shared among researchers and stakeholders within the journal publishing community. -
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
- The Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology’s number of articles and turnaround time before and after the COVID-19 pandemic: a case study
Sang-Jun Kim
Science Editing.2025; 12(1): 50. CrossRef - Trends in academic research on thirdhand smoke using bibliometric analysis
Joseph K. Ahialey, Yubin Lee, Myung-Bae Park, Jimi Huh
Tobacco Induced Diseases.2025; 23(April): 1. CrossRef - Mental health during and after the COVID-19 pandemic – a longitudinal study over 42 months in five European countries
Irina Zrnić Novaković, Dean Ajduković, Marina Ajduković, Laura Kenntemich, Annett Lotzin, Ingo Schäfer, Xenia Anastassiou-Hadjicharalambous, Eleftheria Evgeniou, Camila Borges, Margarida Figueiredo-Braga, Moritz Russo, Brigitte Lueger-Schuster
European Journal of Psychotraumatology.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
- The Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology’s number of articles and turnaround time before and after the COVID-19 pandemic: a case study
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