[Toronto, June 24, 2024] – JMIR Publications is pleased to announce the outstanding performance of its scholarly journals in the 2024 release of Journal Citation Reports (JCR) by Clarivate, which includes the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) and other metrics of the “world's leading and most trusted journals in their fields” [1].

After the COVID-19 pandemic led to a general impact factor inflation across the entire scholarly publishing landscape in recent years, the 2024 release of the Journal Impact Factor (which measures citations received in 2023 to citable items published in 2021 or 2022) showed that the absolute journal impact factors went down for most journals across publishers. However, what is more important is the relative standing of a journal compared to similar journals in its field, and this is where JMIR Publications journals shine in the new 2024 unified journal rankings (for the first time, Clarivate is ranking journals from different indices, namely SCIE, SSCI, and ESCI, in unified subject categories, which ends a decade-long discrimination against new journals that were relegated to the ESCI). Overall, more than half of the JMIR Publications journals secured positions in the top quartile (Q1 or top 25%) of their respective subject categories.

We are grateful to the scholars, researchers, institutions, funders, peer reviewers, editors, and editorial board members who have contributed to our mission of advancing scientific knowledge.

Strong Performance Across the Board

The JMIR Publications portfolio now boasts 15 journals with JIF rankings, 80% of which have more citation impact than their competitor journals within the same category.

One of the most stunning performances is the stellar debut of JMIR Aging (only the second year of its listing in JCR) in the unified rankings. Not only did JMIR Aging earn a JIF increase to 5.0, this journal remarkably emerged as the #1 top-ranked journal in “Gerontology” (#1/57) and in the first quartile (Q1) in both “Geriatrics & Gerontology” (#12/74) and “Medical Informatics” (#8/44). This mirrors the journal’s performance in Scopus CiteScore rankings, where it is in Q1 across four categories: Health (Social Science), Gerontology, Health Informatics, and Geriatrics and Gerontology. “The strong performance of this still relatively new title shows the strong interest in and significance of using information and communication technologies and other technological innovations for healthy aging”, says Gunther Eysenbach, founder, executive editor, and CEO of JMIR Publications. “Together with our two new editors-in-chief, Dr Yun Jiang and Dr Jinjiao Wang, we are determined to grow JMIR Aging into a world-class journal, highlighting the importance of technology to tackle issues faced by an aging population”.

JMIR Infodemiology—the newest journal in the portfolio, established in 2021 in the wake of the COVID-19 infodemic, also debuted as an emerging leader, with an inaugural JIF of 3.5, placed in the top quartile (Q1) in the “Public Health” category. JMIR Infodemiology was the first and pioneering journal publishing research on combating misinformation and analyzing health information supply and demand patterns on the web. This is consistent with the journal’s position in the Scopus CiteScore rankings, where it is also ranked as a Q1 title in "Public Health" as well as a Q1 journal in the “Medical Informatics” category. “The JMIR Publications family of journals has always been a home for infodemiology research. JMIR Infodemiology’s inaugural impact factor and journal rankings announced today demonstrate the growing strength of our interdisciplinary community and recognition of the value and impact of a journal solely dedicated to advancing infodemiology. We are just getting started," says editor in chief Timothy Mackey, who is also a Professor of Global Health in the Global Health Program at UC San Diego in the Department of Anthropology and Director of the Global Health Policy and Data Institute.

The flagship journal, Journal of Medical Internet Research, continues to retain its historical position as a Q1 journal (top 25%) in both “Medical Informatics” and “Health Care Sciences & Services” categories. Already ranked #1 in Google Scholar by h-index, with its new impact factor of 5.8, it now surpasses all Frontiers journals (including Frontiers Digital Health, JIF 3.2), as well as well-established titles in health services research and medical informatics, such as JAMIA (4.7), JAMIA Open (2.5), International Journal of Medical Informatics (3.7), Internet Interventions (3.6), Journal of Biomedical Informatics (4.0), Digital Health (2.9), and Telemedicine and eHealth (2.8). The Journal of Medical Internet Research also saw an increase in its Journal Citation Indicator (JCI) to 1.68, which means that the journal has 68% more citation impact than the average in its category.

JMIR mHealth and uHealth earned an impressive 8% increase in JIF to 5.4. The journal sits within the first quartile (Q1) of the “Health Care Sciences & Services” and “Medical Informatics” categories.

JMIR Mental Health is now for the first time a Q1 journal in the “Psychiatry” category, a result that is also reflected in the journal’s Scopus CiteScore ranking in the top 10% of all “Psychiatry and Mental Health” journals. "We are all pleased to see JMIR Mental Health's new ranking reflect the high quality of the papers we publish, highlighting the superb work of authors, dedication of peer-reviewers, and commitment from the editorial team", commented John Torous, Director of the Division of Digital Psychiatry at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a Harvard Medical School affiliate in Boston, and editor in chief of JMIR Mental Health.

Overall, 8 JMIR Publications journals (more than half of our portfolio journals with a JIF) secured positions in the top quartile of their respective categories.

A Complete List of JMIR Publications Titles With a Journal Impact Factor in 2024:

Journal of Medical Internet Research	5.8	Q1
JMIR mHealth and uHealth	5.4	Q1
JMIR Aging	5.0	Q1
JMIR Mental Health	4.8	Q1
JMIR Serious Games	3.8	Q1
JMIR Infodemiology	3.5	Q1
JMIR Public Health and Surveillance	3.5	Q1
JMIR Cancer	3.3	Q2
JMIR Medical Education	3.2	Q1
JMIR Medical Informatics	3.1	Q2
JMIR Human Factors	2.6	Q2
JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting	2.1	Q2
JMIR Formative Research	2.0
Interactive Journal of Medical Research	1.9
JMIR Research Protocols	1.4

Beyond the Journal Impact Factor

We would like to recognize the importance of JMIR Formative Research, Interactive Journal of Medical Research, and JMIR Research Protocols and their role in promoting transparency and open science. The success of these journals, and all journals in general, is not measured solely by their JIF. For example, the mission of JMIR Research Protocols is to promote transparency in research and to promote registered reports, and Web of Science does not have a proper category for protocol journals.

While JIF holds prestige, JMIR Publications acknowledges the limitations of a single metric for impact assessment. We advocate for a more holistic approach to scholarly impact, encouraging the consideration of author satisfaction ratings (SciRev or Google Scholar), Altmetric scores, and emerging open science measures. We fully endorse the principles outlined in the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) and actively promote a shift away from JIF dominance in scholarly communication.

Important Note Regarding JIF Methodology Changes

It is important to acknowledge the significant changes made to the JIF ranking methodology this year. The unification of scores across various disciplines has resulted in an influx of journals and expanded categories, potentially impacting individual scores. For a deeper understanding, please see Clarivate's announcement here [2].

With Gratitude, We Look Forward

JMIR Publications extends its sincere gratitude to our authors, reviewers, and editors for their dedication to open and rapid dissemination of digital health research. We remain committed to upholding rigorous peer review processes and providing insightful feedback to support authors.

Thank you to all authors who choose to share their best work with us and contribute to the mission of open scientific discourse. Whether through JMIRx preprints, open peer review, or publication of protocols, your contributions are instrumental in shaping the future of digital health research.

Join the Community

At JMIR Publications, we are dedicated to advance digital health and scholarly communication. We invite you to submit your next manuscript and become part of our vibrant community.

References:

1. Clarivate Reveals World’s Leading and Trusted Journals with the 2024 Journal Citation Reports. June 20, 2024. URL: https://clarivate.com/news/clarivate-reveals-worlds-leading-and-trusted-journals-with-the-2024-journal-citation-reports/

2. 2024 Journal Citation Reports: Changes in Journal Impact Factor category rankings to enhance transparency and inclusivity, February 16, 2024, URL: https://clarivate.com/blog/2024-journal-citation-reports-changes-in-journal-impact-factor-category-rankings-to-enhance-transparency-and-inclusivity/

Opinion

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