Direct comparison
Impact Factor vs. SJR Compared
JIF vs SJR: Clarivate’s flat 2-year citation count vs SCImago’s free, PageRank-style 3-year weighted prestige score from Scopus data.
Side-by-side comparison
| Dimension | Impact Factor (JIF) | SJR (SCImago Journal Rank) |
|---|---|---|
| What it measures | Average citations per citable item over a fixed 2-year window | Weighted prestige score per document, where citations from higher-prestige journals count more |
| Produced by | Clarivate | SCImago Research Group (CSIC + University of Granada) — independent, not Elsevier |
| Published in | Journal Citation Reports (JCR), annually | scimagojr.com, annually |
| Underlying database | Web of Science Core Collection | Scopus (computed under license) |
| Citation window | 2 years (citations in Y to items published in Y-1, Y-2) | 3 years (citations in Y to documents published in Y-1, Y-2, Y-3) |
| Weighting method | None — every citation counts equally | Iterative, PageRank-style algorithm — citations from more prestigious journals carry more weight |
| Self-citation handling | Self-cite % reported alongside JIF; excessive self-citation can trigger JCR suppression | Journal self-citations capped at 33% of total references in the calculation |
| Access / cost | Requires Web of Science / JCR institutional subscription for most figures | Free, no subscription required |
| Eligibility | Web of Science Core Collection journals meeting quality criteria (SCIE/SSCI/AHCI/ESCI since the 2023 JCR release) | Any journal or serial indexed in Scopus |
| Category rankings | Quartile (Q1–Q4) within a JCR subject category; arts & humanities ranked by JCI since 2024 | Quartile within a Scopus subject category, freely browsable |
Common questions
FAQ
Is a high SJR the same as a high Impact Factor?+
Not necessarily. Because SJR weighs citations by the citing journal’s own prestige and covers a 3-year window against JIF’s flat 2-year count, and the two draw from different databases (Scopus vs. Web of Science), a journal can rank differently on each metric.
Which is more accurate, Impact Factor or SJR?+
Neither is objectively more accurate — they answer different questions. JIF is a simple average of citations per article; SJR incorporates the prestige of the citing journal. Both are journal-level metrics, and neither should be used alone to judge an individual researcher’s work, per DORA and CoARA.
Do I need a subscription to see SJR?+
No. SJR is published free at scimagojr.com. JIF generally requires institutional access to Web of Science, InCites, or Journal Citation Reports to view most journals’ current figures.
Can a journal have an SJR but no Impact Factor, or vice versa?+
Yes. A journal needs to be indexed in Scopus to have an SJR, and separately indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection to have a JIF. The two databases have different, though overlapping, coverage, so a journal indexed in only one will carry only that system’s metric.
