PREDGOVOR UREDNIKA
Ideja o dejavniku vpliva (Impact factor – IF) se je
pojavila `e leta 1955. Kasneje pa se je dejavnik vpliva
uveljavil kot eno od klju~nih meril za dolo~anje znan-
stvene kakovosti revije in hkrati predstavlja enega od
klju~nih kriterijev pri oceni raziskovalcev. Poenostav-
ljeno: dejavnik vpliva predstavlja {tevilo citatov revije,
prera~unano na {tevilo objavljenih ~lankov v zadnjih
dveh letih. Ker gre za matemati~ni izra~un, je teoreti~no
mogo~e nanj delno vplivati tudi z uredni{ko politiko. Vsi
taki, sicer neeti~ni, poskusi v preteklosti so se izjalovili.
Urednik ne sme vplivati na avtorje in jih ne sme
spodbujati, da citirajo ~lanke iz urednikove revije. To
kontrolira tudi Thomson Reuters, ki dopu{~a kot eti~no,
maksimalno 20 % samocitatov in s tem omejuje mo`no
vplivanje urednikov na gibanje dejavnika vpliva. Eti~no
sprejemljivo je, ~e je urednikov vpliv omejen na izbiro
kvalitetnih ~lankov priznanih avtorjev za katere je ve~
mo`nosti, da bodo po objavi tudi citirani.
Za revije, ki so vrhunske in imajo tudi najvi{ji
dejavnik vpliva je zna~ilno, da objavljajo dela priznanih,
uveljavljenih avtorjev in predvsem pregledne ~lanke, kar
skupaj lahko najve~ prispeva k dvigu dejavnika vpliva.
V sredini vsakega leta Thomson Reuters objavlja
nove vrednosti dejavnika vpliva za preteklo obdobje, ki
ga uredniki pri~akujemo z nestrpnostjo. Uredni{tvo re-
vije Materiali in tehnologije je v preteklih letih dalo ve~
mo`nosti mladim, {e neuveljavljenim avtorjem, kar se je
takoj odrazilo na zmanj{ani vrednosti dejavnika vpliva.
V zvezi s tem se postavlja ve~ dilem in vpra{anj
glede prihodnje uredni{ke politike. Ali je res nujno
potrebno, da se dejavnik vpliva stalno povi{uje? Ali je
smiselno, da se daje mo`nost objave tudi manj priznanim
mladim raziskovalcem, ki se lahko v prihodnje razvijejo
v vrhunske znanstvenike? Ali naj uredni{tvo zaostri
pogoje sprejemanja ~lankov v objavo? Ali je zmanj{anje
dejavnika vpliva znak za slabo uredni{ko politiko?
Ve~ina teh vpra{anj nima enostavnega odgovora, zato
ostaja dejavnik vpliva trd oreh tako dosedanjih kot tudi
bodo~ih urednikov.
Ob prenehanju opravljanja funkcije glavnega in
odgovornega urednika se zahvaljujem vsem avtorjem,
uredni{kemu odboru in vsem sodelavcem, ki skrbijo za
revijo Materiali in tehnologije/Materials and Technology,
ki bo v letu 2017 praznovala ~astitljivo, `e 50. obletnico
izhajanja.
Glavni in odgovorni urednik
Dr. Matja` Torkar
EDITOR’S PREFACE
The idea of impact factor (IF) first appeared in 1955.
Since then, IF has established itself as one of the key
criteria for determining the ranking of a journal, as well
as an indicator of a researcher’s scientific quality. The IF
is derived from the number of citations of the journal,
recalculated to take account of the number of published
articles in the past two years. Because of its mathe-
matical basis it can be influenced by editorial politics.
However, all such unethical experiments have failed in
the past. The editor should not put pressure on the
authors, and they should not be encouraged to cite the
editor’s journal. This is also controlled by Thomson
Reuters, which allows up to 20 % of self-citations, and
so limits the possible influence of editors. It is, however,
ethically acceptable for editors to choose quality papers
by well-known authors, which are more likely to be cited
after their publication.
It is also typical for the journals with the highest IFs
to publish review papers by renowned, established
authors, which tend to contribute to a higher IF.
In the middle of every year Thomson Reuters publishes
its new values for journal IFs, something editors wait
impatiently for. As the editor of Materials and Techno-
logy, in recent years I gave more chances to young,
not-yet-established authors, which was immediately
reflected in a lower IF. There are clearly a number of
questions that future editors must consider. Is it really
necessary for IFs to keep on increasing? Does it make
sense to encourage young, less-established researchers
who may yet develop into world-class scientists? Should
the editor toughen the conditions for the acceptance of
articles for publication? Is a lower IF really a sign of
poor editorial policy?
Most of these questions have no simple answer, and
for this reason the IF remains as a difficult problem for
current and future editors.
As I step down from my position as Editor in Chief, I
would like to thank all the authors, the Editorial Board
and my co-workers, all of whom care about the journal
Materiali in tehnologije/Materials and Technology,
which will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2017.
Editor in Chief
Dr. Matja` Torkar