Issue: 38(3) August 2012. Essays Pages 65 – 66
Silvia Maina
Editor, SEEd Medical Publishers, Torino, Italy; [email protected]
Abstract
Webometrics has emerged as a discipline to assess the circulation of information on the Internet. One of the metrics employed by webometrics is the so-called Web Impact Factor (WIF). A website is highly-visited if it contains information of interest to a target audience, provides high-quality services and is
mentioned on more influential websites. A high Journal Impact Factor (JIF) itself may attract many links to a journal website.
However, many other factors influence journal visibility and its webometric rank: website layout, speed and ease in finding information, structure of website and hyperlinks. Despite some positive applications of webometrics, it is still not clear whether web links can be used for scholarly purposes. Usage data change over time. Search engines cover only a small proportion of information. It is thus important to take into account both quantitative and qualitative aspects of webometrics
