If the design of impact factor is ingenius, the one who decided to apply the number as a measure of how successful a journal is was probably pocessed by the devil.
To run a journal is no different from other private company. If money is the goal of your business, you tap every possible resource to try and make one more penny. If impact factor is the ultimate aim, there are always methods to juggle with the numbers.
Here are some:
1. Ask the authors – in order to get their manuscript accepted – to quote previous articles from your journal, the more the better.
2. Publish guidelines. Think: What else could a health administrator quote ?
3. Publish papers with controversial results: People could only cite your paper before arguing with it.
4. Create a sister journal. Accept good quality (alas, high hope of being cited) manuscripts for the major journal and dump the others (that you want to maintain a friendship with the authors) to the new sister.
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