Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A researcher citing Clinical Infectious Diseases' 2025 Impact Factor of 8.4 alongside the year and the journal page it came from, not as a bare number.
- Is an instance
A librarian explaining that the journal's 2025 Impact Factor (8.4) and 2025 CiteScore (17.1) come from different providers and should not be compared with each other.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
Quoting the Impact Factor of 8.4 without a data year, or presenting it as a measure of any one article published in the journal.
Editorial commentary
Quick answer: Clinical Infectious Diseases shows a 2025 Impact Factor of 8.4 and a 2025 5 Year Impact Factor of 6.8 on its own Oxford Academic journal page (checked 29 October 2026). The journal page lists a 2025 CiteScore of 17.1. These are three different measurements, so the numbers are not interchangeable.
What the clinical infectious diseases impact factor measures
The Journal Impact Factor (JIF) is a journal-level citation measure that Clarivate publishes each year in Journal Citation Reports. Clarivate cautions that the JIF should not be considered in isolation (see the Clarivate Journal Citation Reports page in Sources). It describes the journal as a whole. It does not describe any single article, author or clinical recommendation published in it.
Current value and where it comes from
The figures below are as shown on the journal’s Oxford Academic page, checked 29 October 2026. The page labels each one with the year 2025, so quote the year whenever you quote the number.
| Measure shown on the journal page | Value | Label on the page |
|---|---|---|
| Impact Factor | 8.4 | 2025 Impact Factor |
| 5 Year Impact Factor | 6.8 | 2025 5 Year Impact Factor |
| CiteScore | 17.1 | 2025 CiteScore |
The journal is published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America (the page footer reads “Copyright 2026 Infectious Diseases Society of America”). Its online ISSN is 1537-6591 and its print ISSN is 1058-4838.
How the impact factor differs from CiteScore
The Journal Impact Factor is published by Clarivate in Journal Citation Reports. CiteScore is a separate metric calculated by Elsevier from Scopus data (see CiteScore). The 5 Year Impact Factor uses a longer window than the standard figure, which is why it can differ for the same data year. The two providers use their own methods, so their numbers are not interchangeable.
Rank and other metrics
The journal page also gives the journal’s position in the Infectious Diseases category under two different measures:
- Rank by Impact Factor: 9/142 (Infectious Diseases).
- Rank by CiteScore: 13/361 (Infectious Diseases).
The two ranks are not the same list. They are ordered by different metrics and drawn from category lists of different sizes (142 titles against 361), so 9th of 142 and 13th of 361 should not be compared as if they were one scale. This term does not state a quartile label, because the page shows ranks rather than a quartile.
What kind of journal it is
The journal’s instructions page says it “publishes practice-changing original research, reviews, guidelines, and perspectives” and “covers the clinical presentation, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of the full range of infectious diseases” (journal instructions page, checked 29 October 2026). A journal that publishes guidelines for clinicians has a role a citation-based figure only partly describes.
Using the number responsibly
- Name the data year and the source together, for example: “Clinical Infectious Diseases, Impact Factor 8.4 (2025), as shown on the journal’s Oxford Academic page.”
- Do not set the 2-year Impact Factor beside CiteScore as though they were the same measure.
- Do not use a journal-level figure to judge a single paper or researcher. DORA asks institutions not to do so.
- Re-check the figure after each annual release, since it is a property of a data year and changes.
For a worked example of the same kind of entry for another title, see Scientific Reports’ Journal Impact Factor, and for how to look up any title, see the impact factor look-up guide.
Frequently asked questions
Is the impact factor the same as CiteScore?
No. The journal page lists a 2025 CiteScore of 17.1. CiteScore is calculated by Elsevier from Scopus, while the Journal Impact Factor is published by Clarivate, so the two use different methods and are not interchangeable.
Where does Clinical Infectious Diseases rank in its category?
The journal page gives 9/142 by Impact Factor and 13/361 by CiteScore, both in Infectious Diseases.
Sources
- Clinical Infectious Diseases, Oxford Academic journal page (Impact Factor, 5 Year Impact Factor, CiteScore, ranks, ISSNs), checked 29 October 2026.
- Clinical Infectious Diseases, General Instructions (scope of the journal), checked 29 October 2026.
- Clarivate, Journal Citation Reports, checked 29 October 2026.
Last checked: 29 October 2026. Treat every number here as tied to the data year named beside it.
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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