On the issue of the impact factor of a scientific journal and methods of its formation

Nowadays to make effective administrative decisions in the sphere of science it has become necessary to create a system of objective assessment of the efficiency of scientific activity. The article highlights the problem of using scientometrical indicators in the evaluation of research results, considers the use of the impact factor as a tool for comparing and ranking scientific journals. It presents a review of existing methods to form the impact factor and analyzes the capabilities of the Russian Science Citation Index to calculate the impact factor of journals on the example of publications in Economics. The analysis results show that the RSCI has accumulated a certain resource, applicable to compare scientific journals. The impact factor, which can be selected as a basis for ranking, should not be applied without taking into account other factors affecting the citation. It is also important to bear in mind that scientific journals comparing, based on scientometrical indicators, should be confirmed by the expert assessment.