An Indian Study Reveals How COVID-19 Altered Impact Factors of Top Biomedical Journals

The research, conducted by a team from India and Europe, examined JIF trends between 2019 and 2023 for the top 20 biomedical journals listed in the 2023 Journal Citation Report (JCR). It found that JIFs rose sharply—by an average of 83.4%—from 2019 to 2021, in tandem with a surge in COVID-19-related publications. Notably, in 2021, over 57% of articles in these journals focused on COVID-19. However, this trend began to level off in 2022 and declined by 15.1% in 2023, reflecting a drop in pandemic-related research output.

Key Highlights:

• JIFs of top biomedical journals rose by 83.4% from 2019 to 2021.
• This increase coincided with a spike in COVID-19-related publications.
• The trend stabilized in 2022.
• In 2023, JIFs declined by 15.1%.
• COVID-19 articles peaked in 2021 (57.3% of total publications).
• These declined by 12.5% in 2022.
• A further 29.0% drop was recorded in 2023.

Commenting on the findings, lead author Dr. (Prof). Raju Vaishya from the Department of Orthopaedic and Joint Replacement Surgery, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi, told Medical Dialogues, “The key finding of the study is that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly influenced the impact factors of top biomedical journals. The rapid redirection of scientific focus led to temporary inflation of JIFs, which later declined as the research landscape shifted or reached a saturation point.”

The study also brings into focus a broader issue in academic publishing—the limitations of using JIF as the sole measure of journal quality. Co-author (Prof.) Dr. Filippo Migliorini emphasized the need for a more holistic evaluation approach. He advocated for the use of article-level metrics (ALMs), which gauge the digital reach and societal influence of individual papers.

Dr. Abhishek Vaish, another co-author, noted the importance of these findings for early-career researchers. He urged them to look beyond JIFs and assess journals based on scope, editorial quality, and relevance to their work. “In the evolving post-pandemic academic environment, researchers must adapt their publication strategies and stay updated with changes in scholarly publishing,” he said.

Overall, the study emphasizes the need to move past a one-size-fits-all reliance on JIF. It calls for a balanced approach that combines multiple metrics and qualitative insights to assess journal impact more fairly. “A key message from this study is the need for the scientific and publishing community to move beyond a singular reliance on JIF,” Dr. (Prof.) Raju Vaishya concluded.

Reference:

Vaishya R, Misra A, Singla R, Shekhawat S, Vaish A, Migliorini F. Influence of COVID- 19 pandemic on impact factors of top biomedical journals. Ir J Med Sci. 2025 Apr 12. doi: 10.1007/s11845-025-03954-z. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40216671.