Okay, so I wanted to figure out the impact factor for the Current Psychology journal. I had to do a bit of digging around to find out what I needed.
First, I checked the journal’s official website. Sometimes they have this information right there on the homepage or under a section like “About the Journal” or “Instructions for Authors.” Sadly, it was a no-go this time.
Next, I thought about those big databases that index academic journals. Web of Science and Scopus are the main ones. You usually need a subscription to access them, which is often available through a university or research institution. Luckily, I got access through my old university.
- I went to the Web of Science database.
- I typed “Current Psychology” into the search bar, making sure I selected “Publication Name” from the dropdown menu.
- The journal’s profile came up, and bingo! There was a section labeled “Journal Impact Factor.”
Turns out, the impact factor can fluctuate from year to year. They usually provide the impact factor for the previous year, and sometimes for a few years prior as well. I just needed the most recent one, so I grabbed that number.
Other Ways
If you can’t get into Web of Science or Scopus, there are a couple of other things you can try. There’s this thing called Journal Citation Reports (JCR), which is where the impact factor data comes from. It’s also a subscription thing, but sometimes libraries provide access. Or you might find third-party websites that list impact factors. Just be a little careful with those, cause you want to make sure the information is legit.
So that’s basically how I found the impact factor for the Current Psychology journal. It was not too hard once I remembered my university login.
