Impactitis: new cures for an old disease

Impactitis: new cures for an old disease Although impact factors for journals have been around for quite a while, there is little doubt that they are increasingly perceived as important for measuring the quality of journals and of research, both by editors and authors, sometimes to the point of obsession.In today's rapidly changing world of scientific publication, we would like to review the impact factor concept, and critically evaluate its importance, sometimes with our tongues in our cheeks!Having concluded that the impact factor is an imperfect factor, we explore some potential alternatives.