Latest bibliometrics of Polish Journal of Neurology
and Neurosurgery

Zbigniew K. Wszolek1, Łukasz Stolarczyk2,, Jarosław Sławek3, 4

1Consultant and Professor of Neurology, Haworth Family Professor in Neurodegenerative Diseases, Mayo Clinic Florida, United States
2Scientific Information, Via Medica™, Gdansk, Poland
3Chair and Professor of Neurology, Neurology and Stroke Department, St. Adalbert Hospital, Gdansk, Poland
4Division of Neurological and Psychiatric Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Gdansk, Poland

At the end of June, Clarivate Analytics™ (CA) released the 2023 Edition of Journal Citation Reports, which included important changes. Each Web of Science Core Collection journal was given a Journal Impact Factor (JIF). Journals indexed in the Arts and Humanities Citation Index and the Emerging Sources Citation Index received JIFs for the very first time, meaning that c.9,000 additional titles were included in the JIF calculation for 2022. CA introduced this new policy in order to widen representation of journals from different fields and to provide better journal assessments.

Figure 1. Illustration of increases in Journal Impact Factor (JIF) and 5-Year JIF for PJNNS from 2018 to 2022. Data from Clarivate Analytics™

The second, albeit minor, change introduced by CA this year relates to simplifying the calculation of JIF to just the first decimal place (previously it was to three decimal places). CA anticipates that this move will eliminate a false sense of precision in JIF presentation, and encourage users to consider other bibliometrics and descriptive data in journal assessments.

The 2022 JIF for the Polish Journal of Neurology and Neurosurgery (PJNNS, Neurologia i Neurochirurgia Polska) has significantly increased, as illustrated in Figure 1. The current JIF is 2.9 points, an increase of nearly 0.7 points when compared to the 2021 JIF. The 5-year JIF has also increased by almost 0.2 points. The three most cited articles that contributed to these increases are listed in Table 1. Not surprisingly, two of them deal with topics related to SARS-CoV-2 infection. All three are from Polish authors.

Figure 2. Increases in Immediacy Index of PJNNS from 2018 to 2022. Data from Clarivate Analytics™

Another bibliometric measure that we are highlighting here is the Journal Citation Indicator (JCI), which uses a category-normalised calculation. The JCI of PJNNS has been systematically increasing, from the initial assessment of 0.26 points in 2017 to the current 0.56 points. In 2022, both indices improved, allowing PJNNS to change its position from Q4 to Q3 in the Web of Science ‘Clinical Neurology’ category.

The Immediacy Index (II) of PJNNS has increased as well. The II is a measure of the topicality of published articles that are cited in the same year as their publication. The steady increase of PJNNS’s II is depicted in Figure 2. The three most cited articles that contributed to the growth of the 2022 II are presented in Table 2.

The editors thank all authors and reviewers of PJNNS for their continued support of our journal. We welcome any suggestions and comments as to how we might further improve the international standing of PJNNS.

References

1. Czarnowska A, Brola W, Zajkowska O, et al. Clinical course and outcome of SARS-CoV-2 infection in multiple sclerosis patients treated with disease-modifying therapies - the Polish experience. Neurol Neurochir Pol. 2021; 55(2): 212–222, doi: 10.5603/PJNNS.a2021.0031, indexed in Pubmed: 33856686.
2. Nojszewska M, Kalinowska A, Adamczyk-Sowa M, et al. COVID-19 mRNA vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna) in patients with multiple sclerosis: a statement by a working group convened by the Section of Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology of the Polish Neurological Society. Neurol Neurochir Pol. 2021; 55(1): 8–11, doi: 10.5603/PJNNS.a2021.0016, indexed in Pubmed:
   33555604.
3. Milanowski ŁM, Ross OA, Friedman A, et al. Genetics of Parkinson’s disease in the Polish population. Neurol Neurochir Pol. 2021; 55(3): 241–252, doi: 10.5603/PJNNS.a2021.0013, indexed in Pubmed: 33539026.
4. Madetko N, Migda B, Alster P, et al. Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio and neutrophil-tolymphocyte ratio may reflect differences in PD and MSA-P neuroinflammation patterns. Neurol Neurochir Pol. 2022; 56(2): 148–155, doi: 10.5603/PJNNS.a2022.0014, indexed in Pubmed: 35118638.
5. Szejko N, Saramak K, Lombroso A, et al. Cannabis-based medicine in treatment of patients with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome. Neurol Neurochir Pol. 2022; 56(1): 28–38, doi: 10.5603/PJNNS.a2021.0081, indexed in Pubmed: 34708399.
6. Bratosiewicz-Wąsik J. Neuro-COVID-19: an insidious virus in action. Neurol Neurochir Pol. 2022; 56(1): 48–60, doi: 10.5603/PJNNS.a2021.0072, indexed in Pubmed: 34642927.