SSCI and its impact factors: a "prisoner's dilemma"?

Purpose - This paper aims to describe and debate a series of concerns that may affect, influence or manipulate the "Social Science Citation Index" (SSCI) and its impact factors.Design methodology approach - A conceptual discussion of the SSCI and its impact factors are provided.Findings - A series of concerns and potential biases of the SSCI and its impact factors are identified. These question the reliability of the SSCI and impact factors for identifying as tools the "best" journals in the marketing field.Research limitations implications - The SSCI and its impact factors may cause both "win-win" and "win-lose" situations in and between stakeholders of the scholarly communities of the marketing discipline worldwide. The question is raised whether there may be a situation of the "prisoner's dilemma".Practical implications - The SSCI and its impact factors are gaining terrain and acknowledgement in scholarly marketing communities worldwide. This raises the crucial question of whether or not the SSCI and its impact factors will benefit the scholarly communities of the marketing discipline worldwide in the long-term perspective.Originality value - A principal argument brought up for further debate is how the increasing acknowledgement and applications of the SSCI and its impact factors may influence the marketing discipline and its scholarly communities worldwide as a whole. Another principal argument brought up for further debate is that the current algorithm that underpins the impact factors of the SSCI may be affected, influenced (and at worst manipulated) in the self-interest of the journal publishers, the editors and the editorial boards. Authors may also feel the pressure to match perceived expectations and potential requirements in their own self-interest.