Division of Research, Singapore General Hospital, 31 Third Hospital Avenue, Bowyer Block A Level 3, Outram Road, Singapore, 169608, Singapore.
Sci Eng Ethics. 2011 Mar;17(1):65-73. doi: 10.1007/s11948-009-9177-7. Epub 2009 Oct 2.
There is an increasing trend towards assessing the scientific performance of researchers and institutions of higher learning in the form of journal publications and the associated citations. Currently, the journal impact factor (JIF) value is the most widely used measure for any academic contents. However, there are growing concerns for the unethical practices adopted by journal editors to manipulate the JIF computations. Recently, a Swiss journal, Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica which has a JIF value of 0.655 in the year 2006 registers a remarkable JIF increment (of 119%) to 1.439 in the year 2007. It is believed that the journal can achieve such a prominent JIF improvement by publishing a single editorial article that self-cited 66 of its own articles published either in the year 2005 or 2006. The journal has been revoked of any JIF value in the following year of 2008. Thus, it is interesting to review the possible alternative bibliographical trend for the journal should the self-cite event has been avoided, the circumstances leading to the decision by the editor to publish such an article and the possible ethical implications or lessons that can be derived from this incident.
目前，期刊影响因子（JIF）值是衡量任何学术内容的最常用指标。然而，期刊编辑为操纵 JIF 计算而采用不道德的做法，引起了越来越多的关注。最近，一家名为《Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica》的瑞士期刊在 2006 年的 JIF 值为 0.655，而在 2007 年，其 JIF 值却显著增长（增长了 119%）至 1.439。据信，该期刊通过发表一篇编辑文章，自我引用了其在 2005 年或 2006 年发表的 66 篇文章，从而实现了如此显著的 JIF 提升。该期刊在 2008 年的下一年被取消了任何 JIF 值。因此，如果避免了自我引用事件，回顾该期刊可能的替代文献趋势、导致编辑决定发表此类文章的情况以及可以从中得出的可能的伦理含义或教训，是很有趣的。
