Clarivate Analytics will introduce a new journal metric, the Journal Citation Indicator (JCI), in the 2021 Journal Citation Report (available through the Libraries). The Journal Citation Indicator is a measure of a journal’s relative citation impact that is normalized for disciplinary differences in publication and citation practices, with a score of 1.0 representing the global impact average. A JCI higher than 1.0 represents higher-than-average citation impact; a JCI lower than 1.0 represents lower-than-average citation impact. The JCI is intended to complement the Journal Impact Factor (JIF). It is based on a three-year citation window and will be applied to all journals in the Web of Science Core Collection, including those that do not qualify for a JIF (specifically, journals from the Arts and Humanities Citation Index). Although the aim of the JCI is to make comparisons across disciplines easier and more fair, care should still be taken when interpreting this metric due to the complexities of field normalization. Comparisons between affiliated disciplines will be more reliable than those between unrelated disciplines.
