Impact factors: Influencing careers, creativity and academic freedom

This discussion piece was prompted by arguments in the original submission, 'If you can keep your head: The unintended consequences of the impact factor'. This short essay stresses that many academic institutions around the world rely too much on impact factors (IFs) as a sole indicator of research quality and impact. It argues that other indicators of quality and influence should also be used to measure an individual's academic success. Three primary outcomes may occur when impact factors are used as sole gauges of academic quality: stifling early-career researchers, constraining academic freedom, and curbing creativity and innovation. (C) 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd.