A method for comparison of biomedical publication quality across ISI discipline categories

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to offer a method to help to objectively compare quality of publication in biomedical journals in different disciplines with varying ISI Impact Factors (IF). Three methods--the number of journals per ISI Journal Citation Report discipline category/10, the IF/10, and the log (IF+1)/10--were used to calculate an article score. The distribution of article scores were compared across three defined ISI discipline categories: two clinical categories, dentistry (ISI category--dentistry, oral surgery, and medicine, forty-five journals) and medicine (ISI category--medicine, internal and general, 110 journals), and one basic science category, physiology (ISI category--physiology, seventy-four journals). The use of article scores per discipline category enables a reasonable, relative comparison of the quality of biomedical publications of individuals across disciplines for the purpose of promotion or awarding of research grants.