Abstract: | One of the most misunderstood aspects of journal management is the effect of journal title changes on the ThomsonScientific impact factor. This study analyses journals that changed their title in 1994 and 1995 and ascertains the period of time taken to recover the impact factor. Effects of subject classification and of the size of the journal are also investigated to see if recovery time depends on them. The analysis shows that recovery times are longer than predicted. Suggestions are made on how publishers may approach communication of journal title changes to minimize the effects on the impact factor. |