Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine 51-3 | Page 3

J Rehabil Med 2019; 51: 149–150
EDITORIAL
THE REAL IMPACT FACTOR OF JOURNAL OF REHABILITATION MEDICINE (JRM)
AND JRM CLINICAL COMMUNICATIONS (JRM-CC)
Impact is defined as: “the action of one object coming forcibly
into contact with another” or “a marked effect or influence”.
In scientific research, the impact of a journal is operationalized
as the number of citations received during one year by articles
previously published in the journal divided by the total number
of articles published. The most commonly used indicators are
the 2-year Impact Factor (IF) and the 5-year IF. Accordingly,
the 2-year IF in 2018 for Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine
(JRM) is the number of citations in 2018 (in all journals) to
papers published in JRM during 2016 and 2017 divided by the
total number of papers published in JRM during 2016 and 2017.
The current 2- and 5-year IFs for JRM are 1.802 and 2.202, re-
spectively. We expect the IFs to increase for 2018. In the Journal
Citation Reports (JCR) ranking JRM currently ranks number 29
for the 2-year IF and 23 for the 5-year IF. For clinical journals,
the 5-year IF is generally considered more appropriate, because
clinical research has a slower turnover than more fundamental
research. The highest numbers of citations generated by JRM
papers occur in the third and fourth year after publication. As
such, the 2-year IF underestimates the scientific impact of papers
published in most general rehabilitation journals.
Another prestigious ranking is published by Scimago (https://
www.scimagojr.com/journalrank.php). They use a 3-year period
for papers to be cited in the year following this 3-year period.
In addition, there are differences in what weight to give to
Systematic Reviews, Letters to the Editor, Editorials, etc. The
position of JRM in Scimago is more than satisfactory (Table I). 
Many universities, hospitals, funding agencies and individual
researchers consider the IF to be the main criterion to indicate
the “quality” of journals or of authors. Publications in so-called
“high-impact journals” are essential for researchers to make a
Table I. Scimago’s ranking list
Rank Title SJR Cites/
H
Doc.
index (2 years)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14 Human Reproduction
Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair
Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation
Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation
Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
African Journal of Disability
Clinical Rehabilitation
Journal of Special Education
Journal of Neurologic Physical Therapy
Gait and Posture
Journal of Biomechanics
Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine
Journal of Intellectual Disability Research
BMC Sports Science, Medicine and
Rehabilitation
AAC: Augmentative and Alternative
Communication
Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation
Journal of Aging and Physical Activity
Geriatric Orthopaedic Surgery and
Rehabilitation
Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and
Prevention
Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal 2.643
2.265
1.545
1.515
1.501
1.463
1.322
1.229
1.227
1.188
1.147
0.997
0.981
0.926 200
87
85
68
162
4
92
59
40
123
170
84
89
13
5.02
4.98
2.99
4.4
2.97
5.33
2.91
2.05
3.4
2.47
2.5
1.85
1.94
4.84
0.919 43
2.46
0.880
0.874
0.832 61
49
13
1.88
1.97
1.7
0.816 61
1.69
0.802 56
1.97
Rehabilitation Psicosocial 0.101 2
0.07
15
16
17
18
19
20
Table II. The 10 most cited and most downloaded articles published
in the Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine (JRM) in 2017
n
10 most cited articles
Zhu et al. (1)
Ertzgaard et al. (2)
Lytsy et al. (3)
Chiou et al. (4)
Palm et al. (5)
Sklempe Kokic et al. (6)
Khan et al. (7)
Mueller et al. (8)
Prodinger et al. (9)
Punt et al. (10) 15 
8 
8 
7 
6
6
6
5 
5 
5 
10 most downloaded articles
Huang et al. (11)
Sklempe Kokic et al. (6)
Apeldoorn et al. (12)
Nonnekes et al. (13)
Lykke Knak et al. (14)
Peer et al. (15)
Dall’Acqua et al. (16)
McConnell et al. (17)
Ertzgaard et al. (2)
Bartolo et al. (18)
SJR: Scimago Journal Rank; H-Index: an author level metric attempting to measure
both the productivity and citation impact of the publications.
Downloads
n
6.552
4.516
4.002
3.654
2.727
2.661
2.362
2.086
1.937
1.791
Bold: These references appear in the top 10 of both cited as well as downloaded
articles.
career and to obtain funding for future projects. Although many
authorities have criticized the use of the IF as the main criterion
for quality it is still used worldwide.
An important question is whether the rankings of IF by JCR
or Scimago actually reflect the “marked effect or influence” of
papers published in JRM. The Editors-in-Chief of JRM consi-
der the IF as an inevitable indicator, not least for the scientific
quality of the article. The fact that other scientists cite a study
is of importance mainly for other researchers and not for the
readers of a scientific journal, such as clinicians, patients, go-
vernment, journalists, etc. However, for these readers, IFs do
not adequately cover the concept of impact.
We are therefore very excited that JRM has around 600 down-
loads per day. Apparently people worldwide want to read our
publications and apply the results in their daily work or daily
life (Table II). The more than 200,000 downloads per year re-
flect the “real impact factor” (RIF) of JRM and JRM-CC. The
decision to become completely and immediately Open Access
has certainly contributed immensely to this success.
In contrast to most other journals, it is free of charge to read
and download JRM articles. Our Lay Abstracts make studies
more understandable for readers without a medical or scienti-
fic background. The RIF will also strengthen areas of clinical
importance that have few researchers.
The Editors-in-Chief and Associate Editors promise to con-
tinue to take all necessary steps to strengthen and improve the
real impact of JRM, both for our authors and for our readers.
REFERENCES
…
122
Times cited
Reference
1. Zhu CE, Yu B, Zhang W, Chen WH, Qi Q, Miao Y. Effective-
ness and safety of transcranial direct current stimulation
in fibromyalgia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license. www.medicaljournals.se/jrm
Journal Compilation © 2019 Foundation of Rehabilitation Information. ISSN 1650-1977
doi: 10.2340/16501977-2541