How to find the impact factor of academic journals?

The journal impact factor (IF) is a metric quantifying the average number of citations received per article published in a specific journal over a preceding period, typically two years. It is calculable and accessible through established bibliographic databases. Key sources include proprietary citation indexes like Clarivate's Journal Citation Reports (JCR) within Web of Science and Elsevier's Scopus, which provides the CiteScore metric. Impact factors are always journal-specific and year-specific, requiring users to identify the correct journal title and publication year. Notably, impact factors vary significantly across academic disciplines and should not be used as the sole indicator of journal or article quality. Open access alternatives like Scimago Journal Rank (SJR) or SNIP, derived from Scopus data, are also available. To find the current impact factor, access your institution's subscription to Web of Science (JCR) or Scopus (via the Sources section). Alternatively, visit the journal's official website, often found in the "About" or "Journal Metrics" section. Verifying the metric's source and calculation year is crucial before utilizing it for publication decisions, research assessment, or institutional benchmarking.