Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A value quoted for Genome Research should be cited as 'JIF, 2025 JCR data year, Clarivate', not as 'the impact factor'.
- Is an instance
Comparing Genome Research with BMC Genomics requires reading both values and category quartiles from the same JCR data year.
Editorial commentary
Quick answer: “Genome Res” is the standard abbreviation for Genome Research, a genomics journal. Its Journal Impact Factor is a figure Clarivate computes and publishes each year in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR), and it changes every year. Search results often disagree on the number because they mix JCR data years, release years and third-party estimates, so always cite the value with its JCR data year, taken from the JCR itself.
What the Genome Res impact factor measures
The Journal Impact Factor (JIF) is a ratio. Per Clarivate, the numerator is the citations received in the JCR data year to items the journal published in the previous two years; the denominator is the number of citable items the journal published in those two years. The result is an average for the whole journal, not a measure of any one paper in it. Clarivate also publishes a five-year version of the metric (source: Clarivate, Impact Factor essay, clarivate.com/academia-government/essays/impact-factor/, read 7 November 2026).
Clarivate codes items manually as citable or not, and it treats articles with more than 100 references as reviews. Because review articles tend to attract more citations, a journal that publishes many of them can see its JIF rise without any change in the typical research article.
Where to find the current value
The authoritative source is the Journal Citation Reports, which Clarivate updates every year. The JCR is subscription-based; many university libraries provide access. The journal’s own site may restate the figure, and when it does it should name the JCR year. CASRAI does not quote a Genome Research number here, because published figures differ between sources and a number is only meaningful with its data year and source attached.
If you see two different values for the same journal, check three things: the JCR data year versus the year of release (the 2025 data year is released in 2026), whether the figure is the two-year or five-year JIF, and whether it came from Clarivate or from a third-party site that estimates citations from another database. The same checks apply to related searches such as “Genome Research impact factor 2026” or “genome research journal impact factor”.
Is 7.2 a good impact factor?
There is no absolute threshold. Clarivate notes that citation norms differ by field, so Impact Factors should be compared only within the same subject category. A value of 7.2 can be high in a category where most journals sit well below it and unremarkable in one where leading journals are far above it. Rank or quartile within the category in the JCR is the better context than the raw number, and a comparison against a journal in a different field says little.
Genome Research compared with Genome Biology, BMC Genomics and Genome Medicine
These are separate journals with separate Impact Factors, each published annually in the JCR. Do not substitute one for another: Genome Research (ISO abbreviation Genome Res), Genome Biology, BMC Genomics and Genome Medicine have different publishers, scopes and article types. Also note that Cytogenetic and Genome Research and Journal of Genetics and Genome Research are different titles that can appear in the same searches. To answer “What is the Impact Factor of BMC Genomics?” or “Is Genome Biology a good journal?”, look each journal up in the JCR and read its value, category and quartile for the same data year. Questions such as “What are the top 3 science journals?” depend on the metric and field used, so no single Impact Factor ordering settles them.
Caution on using the number
Clarivate itself lists limits: averages hide variation, a few highly cited papers can distort a journal’s value, reviews and some item types affect the ratio, and the metric should be used alongside peer review rather than instead of it. Recommendation 1 of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) is not to use journal-based metrics such as Journal Impact Factors as a surrogate measure of the quality of individual articles, or in hiring, promotion or funding decisions (sfdora.org/read/, read 7 November 2026). A different journal-level metric, CiteScore, is calculated by Elsevier from Scopus and is not interchangeable with the JIF. For how another journal’s figure is documented with year and source, see Scientific Reports’ Journal Impact Factor.
Frequently asked questions
Is 7.2 a good impact factor?
It depends on the subject category. Impact Factors should be compared only within the same field, so check the journal’s rank or quartile in the JCR rather than judging the raw number.
What is the Impact Factor of BMC Genomics?
CASRAI does not quote a number, because it changes every JCR release. Look up BMC Genomics in the Journal Citation Reports and record the value with its JCR data year and category.
Is Genome Biology a good journal?
Quality cannot be settled by one metric. Compare its JCR category rank and quartile for the same data year as the journals you are weighing, and read recent articles and its editorial policies. DORA advises against using a journal-based metric as a surrogate for the quality of individual articles.
What are the top 3 science journals?
There is no single ranking. The order depends on the metric, the subject category and the data year used, so any list of three journals reflects those choices. The JCR lets you sort journals within a category by Impact Factor.
Is the Genome Res impact factor the same as CiteScore?
No. The JIF is calculated by Clarivate from its own database; CiteScore is calculated by Elsevier from Scopus, so the two values are not interchangeable.
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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