
==== Front
J Optom
J Optom
Journal of Optometry
1888-4296
1989-1342
Elsevier

S1888-4296(24)00008-6
10.1016/j.optom.2024.100520
100520
Editorial
JOptom's Web of Science (WoS) impact factor
González-Méijome José M. jgmeijome@fisica.uminho.pt
a⁎
Piñero David P. b
Villa-Collar César c
a Clinical and Experimental Optometry Research Lab (CEORLab). Center of Physics, University of Minho, Portugal
b Department of Optics, Pharmacology and Anatomy, University of Alicante, Spain
c Department of Pharmacy, Biotechnology, Nutrition, Optics and Optometry, Faculty of Biomedical and Health Sciences, European University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
⁎ Corresponding author at: CEORLab – Center of Physics, University of Minho, Portugal. jgmeijome@fisica.uminho.pt
03 9 2024
Oct-Dec 2024
03 9 2024
17 4 100520© 2024 Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. on behalf of Spanish General Council of Optometry.
2024

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
==== Body
pmcEditor's Editorial in Issue 1, 2023 announced the Web of Science (WoS) indexation for the Journal of Optometry.1 WoS is in the words of Birkle et al.,2 “the world's oldest, most widely used and authoritative database of research publications and citations”. It is based on the Science Citation Index (SCI), founded by Eugene Garfield in 1964.3

Indexation of the scientific literature is a key aspect of the system implying an external validation of the contents published and its impact in a global perspective. It has been an early aspiration of the Journal of Optometry as a strategic development goal. The main global indexation systems soon recognized the robustness of the Editorial process and impact of the matters published in JOptom, first by Scopus, followed by PubMed and more recently WoS (Table 1).Table 1 Summary of indexation achievements by Journal of Optometry from its inception.

Table 1Date	Milestone	
May 2009	Journal of Optometry indexed by Scopus	
November 2010	Journal of Optometry papers indexed in Science Direct	
July 2013	PubMed Central announces indexing Journal of Optometry	
March 2014	Journal of Optometry indexed in Pubmed-Medline	
June 2021	Journal of Optometry to be indexed in Emerging (ESCI)	
June 2022	Journal of Optometry ranked high in Emerging Journal Citation Index	
June 2023	Impact Factor assigned in the ESCI	
June 2024	Indexation in Journal Citation Index – 2nd quartile (Q2)	

The methodologies followed by different databases are diverse and often not well understood.4 The indices and rankings produced have also their advantages and limitations that have been extensively discussed and new approaches are being developed.5 Despite that, there is no doubt that being ranked high in the main international databases is important for Journal of Optometry that is now in the best position to attract an increasing number of submissions from highly reputed laboratories around the world.

Sponsored by the Spanish Council of Colleges of Optometry, the achievements of JOptom, have encompassed the development of a flourishing research activity in optometry and vision sciences in Spain over the last decades.6

These indices are nothing more than metrics, and we should not transform them into objectives in themselves. The most important goal for JOptom is to continue increasing the international prestige of the journal, and collectively elevate knowledge in the domains of optometry, vision sciences and related areas.7
==== Refs
References

1 González-Méijome J.M. Piñero D.P. Villa-Collar C. Journal of Optometry Impact Factor: it's been a long way to here J Optom 16 1 2023 1 2 10.1016/j.optom.2022.12.001 36596622
2 Birkle C. Pendlebury D.A. Schnell J. Adams J. Web of Science as a data source for research on scientific and scholarly activity Quant Sci Stud 1 1 2020 363 376 10.1162/qss_a_00018
3 Garfield E. "Science citation index"–a new dimension in indexing Science 144 3619 1964 649 654 10.1126/science.144.3619.649 17806988
4 González-Méijome J.M. Journal of optometry bibliometrics J Optom 13 2 2020 71 73 10.1016/j.optom.2020.03.005 32334767
5 Pal A. Portegies W. Schwinn J. Measuring the impact of scientific publications and publication extenders: examples of novel approaches Curr Med Res Opin 40 4 2024 677 687 10.1080/03007995.2024.2320849 38375545
6 Cardona G. Puigdueta-Carrera L. Efron N. Optometry research in Spain: topics of interest, institutions and investigators J Optom 16 2 2023 167 174 10.1016/j.optom.2021.12.003 35027317
7 Efron N. Morgan P.B. Jones L.W. Nichols J.J. Who cites optometry journals? J Optom 16 4 2023 296 304 10.1016/j.optom.2023.05.002 37271623
