In business, success is measured in dollars. The person who makes the most sales or the CEO with the biggest salary is the top dog. In sports, success is often measured in personal statistics or championships.

In academe, we measure success via publications and awards. But it doesn’t stop there. We not only count publications in terms of their frequency, but we also weigh them according to a journal’s prestige. Each field has an informal list of what are considered the top journals, and, in addition, we use metrics such as the impact factor, or IF, to measure how many citations papers published in the journals receive. Every year, various outlets release new rankings, and scholars scramble to see how their favorite journals fare.