A Critique of the use of Journal Impact Factor (JIF) for Academic Assessment in the Humanities’ Discipline
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Date
2019
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Department of History, Kaduna State University, Kaduna
Abstract
A key problem with borrowed methodology lies in the ap plication and relevance to contextual or ‘niche’ circumstances
of the discipline in question. The use of journal impact factor
(JIF) as a metric for evaluating researchers in the humanities
for promotion is a borrowed methodology that has impacted
negatively on the development of the Humanities as a disci plinary niche. This paper examines the origins of JIF as a
bibliometric method and its evolution into mainstream aca demic use for evaluation of researchers. The attendant ret rogressive effects of its use ranging from disciplinary and
language bias are interrogated alongside its integrity as an
objective metric. Shortfalls in citation windows; restrictions
to indexed journals and the malpractices of journal editors
is highlighted. Most importantly the impact factor was cre ated to measure journals impact, not individual researchers
impact. The Redeemer’s University promotion guide is
analyzed as a case study demonstrating the bias against the
humanities whenever this metric is implemented in promo tional assessment.
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Keywords
Impact Factor