Ranking Factors

	Journal article generated by the research study assigned a ranking factor by a reviewer based on significance of the research study.

There are resources that offer a review service of select journal articles based on significance and research impact. Two examples are Faculty of 1000 Biology and Faculty of 1000 Medicine.

Faculty of 1000 is a research service that highlights and evaluates the most interesting and significant papers in the field based on the recommendations of faculty of the world’s leading scientists and researchers. Papers of interest are rated (F1000 Factor) on three scores: recommended, must read, and exceptional, regardless of the impact factor or prestige of the journal. The F1000 Factor number incorporates the rating it receives and the number of Faculty members who have evaluated it. While Faculty of 1000 is not a citation analysis tool it does provide for an alternative means of assessing whether a publication has had a research impact on the field. According to Faculty 1000, citation scores and F1000 factors have some key similarities and differences: “While both are subjective, the citation score is based on whether anonymous scientists cite the paper (e.g., it can be cited to criticise it, papers are often cited by their authors, and recent studies suggest that papers are often cited by people who have not read them), whereas the F1000 factor is based on a positive recommendation by named and hand-picked scientists who are not the authors.”

In addition to the F1000 Factor score, papers are classified by the Faculty of 1000 reviewers using the following criteria:

• Hypothesis – paper proposes a new theory or model
• New Finding – paper describes original findings
• Technical Advance – paper describes a new technique or novel method or uses a known method in a new way
• Confirmation – paper presents key findings confirming important previous finding
• Controversial – paper that may require further confirmation or challenges current dogma
• Refutation – paper provides evidence refuting previous important findings
• Changes in Clinical Practice – paper supports a change in current clinical practice
• Novel Drug Target – paper mentions novel drug or new therapeutic target(s)

Assessment

Two databases that offer review of ranking factors of select journal articles are Faculty of 1000 Medicine and Faculty of 1000 Biology. The rankings, the F1000 Factor, is based upon ratings assigned by Faculty of 1000 members. Articles are rated as either “Recommended” (key article for those in the sub-specialty), “Must Read” (either a landmark article within a sub-specialty or an important article across the specialty), or “Exceptional” (a landmark article for medicine). Faculty of 1000 allows sorting, searching and browsing by the F1000 Factor.

Faculty of 1000 Medicine

Faculty of 1000 Medicine example

Faculty of 1000 Biology

Faculty of 1000 Biology example

 

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Last updated: April 27, 2009