A journal's impact factor is influenced by changes in publication delays of citing journals
研究发现，一本期刊的影响因子会受到其他期刊出版延迟的影响，理论模型预测影响因子随出版延迟单调递减或呈倒U形，并通过三个信息科学期刊的模拟数据验证。
In this article we describe another problem with journal impact factors by showing that one journal's impact factor is dependent on other journals' publication delays. The proposed theoretical model predicts a monotonically decreasing function of the impact factor as a function of publication delay, on condition that the citation curve of the journal is monotone increasing during the publication window used in the calculation of the journal impact factor; otherwise, this function has a reversed U shape. Our findings based on simulations are verified by examining three journals in the information sciences: the Journal of Informetrics , Scientometrics , and the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology .