Citation metrics

The citation indicator describes how often a journal's recent articles are cited. It is calculated separately from the evaluation score and is never presented as an impact factor.

The two-year citation indicator

CI_Y = C_Y ÷ (N_Y−1 + N_Y−2)

CI_Y: Citation indicator for year Y
C_Y: Citations received during year Y by eligible items the journal published in the two previous years
N_Y−1, N_Y−2: Eligible items (research articles and reviews) published in each of those years

Example

A journal published 60 eligible items in 2023 and 2024. During 2025 those items were cited 180 times. Its 2025 indicator is 180 ÷ 60 = 3.00 citations per item.

What every published indicator shows

The data source (OpenAlex) and the date the data was retrieved
The citation year and publication window
Which document types were counted, and the counts behind the ratio
The share of self-citations, and the indicator with them excluded
The formula version used for the calculation

Limitations

Citation counts depend on what the data source covers. Journals in some languages, regions and fields are covered less completely, and citation habits vary widely between subjects. Compare indicators only between journals in the same field.

A high citation rate does not show that a journal is well run, and a low one does not show it is poorly run. Read it together with the evaluation score.

Insufficient data

When a journal has too few eligible items or its records cannot be matched reliably, the profile shows “insufficient citation data” instead of a number. Missing data is never reported as zero.

The Citeveriq citation indicator is not the Clarivate Journal Impact Factor, and the two should not be compared.