Coming soon: 2017 analysis based on the most recent Journal Citation Reports by Clarivate Analytics (formerly published by Thomson Reuters).

In June 2016, Frontiers in Physiology, received the official Impact Factor of 4.031 — up from 3.534 in the previous report. Since its launch in 2010, it has become the #1 most cited and 2nd largest open-access journal in Physiology, and the #2 most cited amongst all journals in Physiology.

Impact Factor (IF), defined as the total number of citations in a given year divided by the number of citable articles over the previous two-year period, is the most commonly accepted metric of journal quality (but not of an individual paper or researcher). It was formally established by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) in 1975. As the IF can be heavily skewed by a few highly-cited papers, total citations generated over the same two-year period provide a more accurate indication of the overall  influence or impact of the articles published by a journal in a field. Frontiers is a pioneer in the use of article-level and author-level metrics and encourages every author to use these to track the development of his or her readership on a more granular level.

Analysis within the category of Physiology

There are 83 journals listed in the category of Physiology in the 2015 Journal Citation Reports (JCR) provided by Thomson Reuters in 2016. Frontiers in Physiology  is one of the 10 open-access journals.

Below are the results of our comparative analysis of these journals on the article volume published, IF and total number of citations achieved in 2015, based on articles published over the two preceding years, 2013 and 2014. (Click here to see the volume and number of citations of other Frontiers journals).

Total citations among all open-access journals in Physiology

Figure 1. Total number of citations in 2015 for articles published in 2013 and 2014, ranked for all (10) open-access journals listed in the Physiology JCR category. Plot shows ranks for all open-access journals, where (in red) Frontiers in Physiology ranks #1 most-cited. The journal analysis is based on the 2015 Journal Citation Reports published by Thomson Reuters in 2016.

Total citations among all journals in Physiology

Figure 2. Total number of citations in 2015 for articles published in 2013 and 2014, ranked for all  (83) journals (open-access and subscription) listed in the Physiology JCR category. Plot shows the ranks for the top 20 most-cited journals, where  (in red) Frontiers in Physiology ranks #2 most-cited.  The journal analysis is based on the 2015 Journal Citation Reports published by Thomson Reuters in 2016.

Relationship between volume and Impact Factor for all open-access journals in Physiology

Figure 3. Number of citable items in 2015, plotted against the 2015 journal Impact Factor, for all 10 open-access journals listed in the Immunology  JCR category. Plot shows all open-access journals in the category, with (in red) Frontiers in Physiology. D__ot size is proportional to the total number of citations received during the citation-counting period. The journal analysis is based on the 2015 Journal Citation Reports published by Thomson Reuters in 2016. 

Relationship between volume and Impact Factor for all journals in Physiology

Figure 4. Number of citable items in 2015, plotted against the 2015 journal Impact Factor, for all 83 journals (open-access  and subscription) listed in the Physiology JCR category. Plot shows all journals in the category, with (in red) Frontiers in Physiology. D__ot size is proportional to the total number of citations received during the citation-counting period. The journal analysis is based on the 2015 Journal Citation Reports published by Thomson Reuters in 2016. 

Summary

Amongst the 10 open-access journals listed in the category of Physiology, Frontiers in Physiology:

• Is the 2nd largest open-access journal in Physiology – 2 times larger than the average article volume in open-access journals in Physiology.

• Is the #1 most cited journal in 2015 based on articles published in 2013 and 2014.

• Ranks #2 on Impact Factor

Amongst all of the 83 journals listed in the category of Physiology, Frontiers in Physiology is:

• The world’s #4 largest Physiology journal overall – 3 times larger than the average article volume in all journals in Physiology.

• The #2 most cited journal in 2015 based on articles published in 2013 and 2014.

• In the top 16% of Impact Factors.

Further significance

The results are more significant if one considers that:

1. Frontiers does not engineer the IF by setting a rejection rate, and instead operates an impact neutral peer-review process.

2. Frontiers in Physiology is only 6 years old and the results represented here are based on articles published between 2013-2014 (its 3rd and 4th year in existence).

Key to success

At Frontiers, we publish all articles that are scientifically correct. We engineered the Collaborative Peer Review process with a review mandate focused on enhancing article quality by means of rigorous and constructive feedback from expert reviewers, as well as quick and direct interactions between authors, reviewers and the editor. This is enabled by our unique review forum platform, and we enhance transparency by acknowledging reviewers and editors on the published articles. The analysis presented here indicates that the impact neutral Collaborative Peer Review conducted in Frontiers, together with an outstanding editorial board, has become a powerful model for publishing academic papers.

All of this is only possible with a stellar editorial board of researchers (see infographic). Frontiers congratulates Field Chief Editor George E Billman, the outstanding board of Specialty Chief Editors and the diligent work of the Associate and Review Editors (see full board), as well as the Frontiers Journal Management team, for this spectacular achievement.

Frontiers in Physiology fact sheet (as of June 2016):

The same analysis of volume, IF and number of citations of other Frontiers journals can be found here.

Similar analysis for the 2014 JCR can be found here.

Chief Editors (see full board):

George E Billman, The Ohio State University, USA | Field Chief Editor, Frontiers in Physiology

Andreas Fahlman, Texas A&M, Corpus Christi, USA | Specialty Chief Editor, Aquatic Physiology

Joel C Bornstein, The University of Melbourne, Australia | Specialty Chief Editor, Autonomic Neuroscience

Vaughan G Macefield, Western Sydney University, Australia | Specialty Chief Editor, Autonomic Neuroscience

Dieter W. Heermann, Heidelberg University, Germany | Specialty Chief Editor, Biophysics

Ruben Coronel, Academic Medical Center Amsterdam, Netherlands | Specialty Chief Editor, Cardiac Electrophysiology

Johannes van Lieshout, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands | Specialty Chief Editor, Clinical and Translational Physiology

Raimond L Winslow, The John Hopkins University, USA | Specialty Chief Editor, Computational Physiology and Medicine

Thimios Mitsiadis, University of Zurich, Switzerland | Specialty Chief Editor, Craniofacial Biology

Gary Iwamoto, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA | Specialty Chief Editor, Exercise Physiology

Gregoire P Millet, University of Lausanne, Switzerland | Specialty Chief Editor, Exercise Physiology

Bruce J West, U.S. Army Research Laboratory, USA | Specialty Chief Editor, Fractal Physiology

Stephen J Pandol , University of California Los Angeles, USA | Specialty Chief Editor, Gastrointestinal Sciences

Geoffrey A Head, BakerIDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Australia | Specialty Chief, Integrative Physiology

Sylvia Anton, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, France | Specialty Chief Editor, Invertebrate Physiology

Daniel Gaudet, University of Montreal, Canada | Specialty Chief Editor, Lipidology

Mario L Diaz, Universidad de La Laguna, Spain | Specialty Chief Editor, Membrane Physiology and Membrane Biophysics

Paolo Bernardi, University of Padova, Italy | Specialty Chief Editor, Mitochondrial Research

Shruti Sharma, Augusta University, USA | Specialty Chief Editor, Oxidant Physiology

Steven Carl Huber, United States Department of Agriculture – Agriculture Research Service, USA | Specialty Chief Editor, Plant Physiology

Andreas P M Weber, Heinrich-Heine-Universität, Germany | Specialty Chief Editor, Plant Physiology

Robert John Unwin, University College London, United Kingdom | Specialty Chief Editor, Renal and Epithelial Physiology

John T Fisher, Queen’s University Kingston, Canada | Specialty Chief Editor, Respiratory Physiology

J Alberto Neder, Queen’s University Kingston, Canada | Specialty Chief Editor, Respiratory Physiology

Paul M L Janssen, Ohio State University, USA | Specialty Chief Editor,  Striated Muscle Physiology

Peter J Reiser, Ohio State University, USA | Specialty Chief Editor, Striated Muscle Physiology

Hiroaki Kitano, The Systems Biology Institute, Japan | Specialty Chief Editor, Systems Biology

Aldana Maximino, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico | Specialty Chief Editor, Systems Biology

Raina Robeva, Randolph-Macon College and Sweet Briar College, USA | Specialty Chief Editor, Systems Biology

Gerald A Meininger, University of Missouri, USA | Specialty Chief Editor, Vascular Physiology