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Caveats for the Use of Citation Indicators in Research and Journal Evaluations

TL;DR: The assumption that citation and publication practices are homogenous within specialties and fields of science is invalid and the delineation of fields and among specialties is fuzzy.
Abstract: Ageing of publications, percentage of self-citations, and impact vary from journal to journal within fields of science. The assumption that citation and publication practices are homogenous within specialties and fields of science is invalid. Furthermore, the delineation of fields and among specialties is fuzzy. Institutional units of analysis and persons may move between fields or span different specialties. The match between the citation index and institutional profiles varies among institutional units and nations. The respective matches may heavily affect the representation of the units. Non-ISI journals are increasingly cornered into "transdisciplinary" Mode-2 functions with the exception of specialist journals publishing in languages other than English. An "externally cited impact factor" can be calculated for these journals. The citation impact of non-ISI journals will be demonstrated using Science and Public Policy as the example.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This contribution presents a comprehensive review on the h-index and related indicators field, studying their main advantages, drawbacks and the main applications that can be found in the literature.

748 citations


Cites background or methods from "Caveats for the Use of Citation Ind..."

  • ...Leydesdorff (2008) also extends this problem to the case of using the h-index or similar indicators to evaluate journals or more general research activities....

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  • ...For clarity reasons, we have splitted all the proposals into two different categories: i) new indices that try to complement the h-index and ii) new indices that extend the h-index to take into account other variables and dependencies (mainly time and number of authors)....

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01 Nov 2004
TL;DR: In this article, the authors presented a new map representing the structure of all of science, based on journal articles, including both the natural and social sciences, which provides a bird's eye view of today's scientific landscape.
Abstract: This paper presents a new map representing the structure of all of science, based on journal articles, including both the natural and social sciences. Similar to cartographic maps of our world, the map of science provides a bird's eye view of today's scientific landscape. It can be used to visually identify major areas of science, their size, similarity, and interconnectedness. In order to be useful, the map needs to be accurate on a local and on a global scale. While our recent work has focused on the former aspect, this paper summarizes results on how to achieve structural accuracy. Eight alternative measures of journal similarity were applied to a data set of 7,121 journals covering over 1 million documents in the combined Science Citation and Social Science Citation Indexes. For each journal similarity measure we generated two-dimensional spatial layouts using the force-directed graph layout tool, VxOrd. Next, mutual information values were calculated for each graph at different clustering levels to give a measure of structural accuracy for each map. The best co-citation and inter-citation maps according to local and structural accuracy were selected and are presented and characterized. These two maps are compared to establish robustness. The inter-citation map is more » then used to examine linkages between disciplines. Biochemistry appears as the most interdisciplinary discipline in science. « less

702 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper presents a new index, called hg-index, to characterize the scientific output of researchers which is based on both h-index and g-index to try to keep the advantages of both measures as well as to minimize their disadvantages.
Abstract: To be able to measure the scientific output of researchers is an increasingly important task to support research assessment decisions. To do so, we can find several different measures and indices in the literature. Recently, the h-index, introduced by Hirsch in 2005, has got a lot of attention from the scientific community for its good properties to measure the scientific production of researchers. Additionally, several different indicators, for example, the g-index, have been developed to try to improve the possible drawbacks of the h-index. In this paper we present a new index, called hg-index, to characterize the scientific output of researchers which is based on both h-index and g-index to try to keep the advantages of both measures as well as to minimize their disadvantages.

213 citations


Cites background from "Caveats for the Use of Citation Ind..."

  • ...However, the h-index presents some drawbacks that have been pointed out in the literature (Bar-Ilan 2008; Bornmann 2008; Costas and Bordons 2007; Iglesias 2007; Leydesdorff 2008; Rousseau 2006)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
David Pendlebury1
TL;DR: The nature and use of the journal impact factor and other common bibliometric measures for assessing research in the sciences and social sciences based on data compiled by Thomson Reuters are reviewed to help government policymakers, university administrators, and individual researchers become better acquainted with the potential benefits and limitations of bibliometrics in the evaluation of research.
Abstract: This article reviews the nature and use of the journal impact factor and other common bibliometric measures for assessing research in the sciences and social sciences based on data compiled by Thomson Reuters. Journal impact factors are frequently misused to assess the influence of individual papers and authors, but such uses were never intended. Thomson Reuters also employs other measures of journal influence, which are contrasted with the impact factor. Finally, the author comments on the proper use of citation data in general, often as a supplement to peer review. This review may help government policymakers, university administrators, and individual researchers become better acquainted with the potential benefits and limitations of bibliometrics in the evaluation of research.

211 citations


Cites background from "Caveats for the Use of Citation Ind..."

  • ...The pluses and minuses of the impact factor, as viewed by various bibliometricians, are widely discussed in the literature (Leydesdorff 2008; Moed 2002; Moed 2005a; Moed and van Leeuwen 1995; Moed and van Leeuwen 1996; Moed et al. 1996; Moed et al. 1999; Moed et al. 2004; van Leeuwen et al. 1999; van Leeuwen and Moed 2002; van Leeuwen and Moed 2005; Zitt and Small 2008)....

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  • ...The pluses and minuses of the impact factor, as viewed by various bibliometricians, are widely discussed in the literature (Leydesdorff 2008; Moed 2002; Moed 2005a; Moed and van Leeuwen 1995; Moed and van Leeuwen 1996; Moed et al. 1996; Moed et al. 1999; Moed et al. 2004; van Leeuwen et al. 1999;…...

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Journal ArticleDOI
01 Apr 2014
TL;DR: Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RPYS) as discussed by the authors is a method based on the analysis of the frequency with which references are cited in the publications of a specific research field in terms of the cited references.
Abstract: We introduce the quantitative method named "Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy" RPYS. With this method one can determine the historical roots of research fields and quantify their impact on current research. RPYS is based on the analysis of the frequency with which references are cited in the publications of a specific research field in terms of the publication years of these cited references. The origins show up in the form of more or less pronounced peaks mostly caused by individual publications that are cited particularly frequently. In this study, we use research on graphene and on solar cells to illustrate how RPYS functions, and what results it can deliver.

174 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, it is argued that the degree of overlap of two individuals' friendship networks varies directly with the strength of their tie to one another, and the impact of this principle on diffusion of influence and information, mobility opportunity, and community organization is explored.
Abstract: Analysis of social networks is suggested as a tool for linking micro and macro levels of sociological theory. The procedure is illustrated by elaboration of the macro implications of one aspect of small-scale interaction: the strength of dyadic ties. It is argued that the degree of overlap of two individuals' friendship networks varies directly with the strength of their tie to one another. The impact of this principle on diffusion of influence and information, mobility opportunity, and community organization is explored. Stress is laid on the cohesive power of weak ties. Most network models deal, implicitly, with strong ties, thus confining their applicability to small, well-defined groups. Emphasis on weak ties lends itself to discussion of relations between groups and to analysis of segments of social structure not easily defined in terms of primary groups.

37,560 citations

Book
01 Jan 1983
TL;DR: Reading is a need and a hobby at once and this condition is the on that will make you feel that you must read.
Abstract: Some people may be laughing when looking at you reading in your spare time. Some may be admired of you. And some may want be like you who have reading hobby. What about your own feel? Have you felt right? Reading is a need and a hobby at once. This condition is the on that will make you feel that you must read. If you know are looking for the book enPDFd introduction to modern information retrieval as the choice of reading, you can find here.

12,059 citations


"Caveats for the Use of Citation Ind..." refers methods in this paper

  • ...On the one hand, this solves the problem of highly skewed (i.e., non-normal) distributions, and, on the other hand, the cosine values can be taken as input to the vector-space-model for the visualization (Salton & McGill, 1983; Ahlgren et al., 2003; Leydesdorff, 2007a)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The index h, defined as the number of papers with citation number ≥h, is proposed as a useful index to characterize the scientific output of a researcher.
Abstract: I propose the index h, defined as the number of papers with citation number ≥h, as a useful index to characterize the scientific output of a researcher.

8,996 citations


"Caveats for the Use of Citation Ind..." refers background in this paper

  • ...ished papers are cited up to two years after publication (Garfield, 1979, at p. 149). 3 2005).2 Total citations, of course, are more stable over time—since accumulating—than impact factors. Recently, Hirsch (2005) has proposed the h-index as a new indicator for evaluation purposes. This index is defined as the highest rank on a scientist’s list of publications such that the first h publications received at lea...

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  • ...Recently, Hirsch (2005) has proposed the h-index as a new indicator for evaluation purposes....

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Journal ArticleDOI
01 Mar 1977
TL;DR: A family of new measures of point and graph centrality based on early intuitions of Bavelas (1948) is introduced in this paper, which define centrality in terms of the degree to which a point falls on the shortest path between others and there fore has a potential for control of communication.
Abstract: A family of new measures of point and graph centrality based on early intuitions of Bavelas (1948) is introduced. These measures define centrality in terms of the degree to which a point falls on the shortest path between others and there fore has a potential for control of communication. They may be used to index centrality in any large or small network of symmetrical relations, whether connected or unconnected.

8,026 citations

Book
01 Jan 1994
TL;DR: The authors argued that the ways in which knowledge is produced are undergoing fundamental changes at the end of the twentieth century and that these changes mark a distinct shift into a new mode of knowledge production which is replacing or reforming established institutions, disciplines, practices and policies.
Abstract: In this provocative and broad-ranging work, a distinguished team of authors argues that the ways in which knowledge — scientific, social and cultural — is produced are undergoing fundamental changes at the end of the twentieth century. They claim that these changes mark a distinct shift into a new mode of knowledge production which is replacing or reforming established institutions, disciplines, practices and policies. Identifying a range of features of the new moder of knowledge production — reflexivity, transdisciplinarity, heterogeneity — the authors show the connections between these features and the changing role of knowledge in social relations. While the knowledge produced by research and development in science and technology (both public and industrial) is accorded central concern, the authors also outline the changing dimensions of social scientific and humanities knowledge and the relations between the production of knowledge and its dissemination through education. Placing science policy and scientific knowledge in its broader context within contemporary societies, this book will be essential reading for all those concerned with the changing nature of knowledge, with the social study of science, with educational systems, and with the relations between R&D and social, economic and technological development.

7,486 citations


"Caveats for the Use of Citation Ind..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Keywords: indicators, evaluation, research assessment, journal, impact...

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  • ...A division between disciplinary (“Mode-1”) and transdisciplinary (“Mode-2”) journals might thus further be reinforced (Gibbons et al., 1994; Leydesdorff & Jin, 2005)....

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  • ...Since earning-power is increasingly important for university positions and tenure may depend on new contracts, relations with the clientele have become business-like and strategic in this field (Gibbons et al., 1994; Nowotny et al. 2001)....

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