  We propose the I3* indicator as a non-parametric alternative to the Journal
Impact Factor (JIF) and h-index. We apply I3* to more than 10,000 journals. The
results can be compared with other journal metrics. I3* is a promising variant
within the general scheme of non-parametric indicators I3 introduced
previously: it provides a single metric which correlates with both impact in
terms of citations (c) and output in terms of publications (p). We argue for
weighting using four percentile classes: the top-1% and top-10% as excellence
indicators; the top-50% and bottom-50% as output indicators. Like the h-index,
which also incorporates both c and p, I3*-values are size-dependent; however,
division of I3* by the number of publications (I3*/N) provides a
size-independent indicator which correlates strongly with the two- and
five-year Journal Impact Factors (JIF2 and JIF5). Unlike the h-index, I3*
correlates significantly with both the total number of citations and
publications. The values of I3* and I3*/N can be statistically tested against
the expectation or against one another using chi-square tests or effect sizes.
A template (in Excel) is provided online for relevant tests.
