The History and Meaning of the Impact Factor.

Why this matters here

Garfield’s history of the journal impact factor insists it was built to help evaluate journals—and subscription decisions—not individual scientists. When Incentives Become the Moral Language tracks how that venue proxy was absorbed into hiring, funding, and rankings as a portable measure of seriousness. Garfield states the intended scope; the book asks what moral language takes over when institutions need a number attached to a venue rather than to an argument.