Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A microbiology researcher comparing where to submit a manuscript checks mBio's current JIF against other ASM journals (Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Journal of Virology, Journal of Bacteriology) and against field-adjacent open-access titles, using two or more independent JCR-tracking sites rather than a single one, given that trackers have reported mBio's most recent two-year JIF inconsistently -- figures around 5.4 and 6.4 have both circulated for overlapping recent release years.
- Is an instance
A CV or grant biosketch citing 'published in mBio (JCR Q1, ASM)' is using mBio's JIF as a field-standing signal rather than quoting an unverified specific number -- consistent with DORA's recommendation not to lean on a single journal-level metric as a proxy for the quality of an individual article or researcher.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
Citing Applied and Environmental Microbiology's or the Journal of Virology's impact factor and calling it mBio's JIF is a name-collision error -- ASM publishes many distinct journals, each tracked separately in JCR under its own ISSN, and they do not share a metric just because they share a publisher.
- Not an instance
Treating a single aggregator's cached number as the current, authoritative figure without checking whether it reflects the latest June JCR release is not a verified JIF citation -- JCR figures update annually and third-party tracker sites lag or diverge from each other and from Clarivate's own release.
Editorial commentary
mBio is the American Society for Microbiology’s (ASM) broad-scope, gold open-access research journal, publishing peer-reviewed microbiology and allied-field research since its inaugural issue on 18 May 2010 (ISSN 2150-7511). Its Journal Impact Factor (JIF) is the same Clarivate-calculated, two-year citation-ratio metric published annually in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) that applies to any JCR-indexed journal — there is nothing structurally unusual about how mBio’s JIF is calculated, only about how consistently third-party sources report the current number.
Current reported figure and why it varies by source
Independent JCR-tracking sites report mBio’s most recent two-year JIF inconsistently: some list a figure near 5.4 for the release covering 2025 citation data (dated to the June 2026 JCR update), while others report a higher figure near 6.4 for the same nominal period. ASM’s own mbio.asm.org journal page does not publish the JCR Impact Factor figure directly, instead surfacing operational metrics such as median days to first peer-review decision. Because the underlying Clarivate JCR database is subscription-gated and mBio’s own site does not restate the number, treat any single-source figure as REPORTED-tier and cross-check at least two independent trackers (for example journalmetrics.org, bioxbio.com, resurchify.com) or a current jcr.clarivate.com subscription before citing a specific value in a CV, grant application, or institutional report.
Publisher and journal context
mBio sits within ASM’s wider journal portfolio, which includes long-established titles such as Applied and Environmental Microbiology and the Journal of Virology, each tracked separately in JCR under its own ISSN and JIF — ASM’s shared publisher does not mean shared metrics across its journals. mBio was distinctive at launch as ASM’s first fully open-access journal and has been JCR Quartile 1 in microbiology in recent releases per tracker reporting, though quartile placement, like the JIF itself, is re-calculated with each annual JCR release and should be re-checked rather than assumed current.
Examples
- A microbiology researcher comparing where to submit a manuscript checks mBio’s current JIF against other ASM journals and against field-adjacent open-access titles, using two or more independent JCR-tracking sites rather than a single one, given the tracker disagreement described above.
- A CV or grant biosketch citing ‘published in mBio (JCR Q1, ASM)’ uses mBio’s JIF as a field-standing signal rather than quoting an unverified specific number — consistent with the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA)‘s recommendation against leaning on a single journal-level metric as a proxy for the quality of an individual article or researcher.
Counter-examples
- Citing Applied and Environmental Microbiology’s or the Journal of Virology’s impact factor and calling it mBio’s JIF is a name-collision error — ASM’s journals are tracked separately in JCR.
- Treating a single aggregator’s cached number as the current, authoritative figure without checking whether it reflects the latest June JCR release is not a verified citation.
Related terms
- Journal Impact Factor (JIF) — the general metric mBio’s figure is an instance of.
- DORA (San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment) — the responsible-assessment framework relevant to citing any single journal-level metric.
- CiteScore vs. Journal Impact Factor — a comparison of the two most commonly cited journal-level metrics.
- Impact Factor vs. h-index — journal-level metric vs. author-level metric.
- How to Look Up a Journal’s Impact Factor — the guide this term supports.
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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