1 / 19

STIMULATE 5

STIMULATE 5. Citation analysis and research performance Ronald Rousseau ronald.rousseau@khbo.be Web page: users.telenet.be/ronald.rousseau. Talk based on:. Introduction to Informetrics (Elsevier) Leo Egghe and Ronald Rousseau. Citation analysis: Part I.

carlos-gates
Download Presentation

STIMULATE 5

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. STIMULATE 5 Citation analysis and research performance Ronald Rousseau ronald.rousseau@khbo.be Web page: users.telenet.be/ronald.rousseau

  2. Talk based on: Introduction to Informetrics (Elsevier) Leo Egghe and Ronald Rousseau

  3. Citation analysis: Part I • History and development of the field • Structure of citation indexes • Use of citations in research evaluation • Problems

  4. A reference list (example) References • Drijvers, P. and Gravemeijer, K. (2004). Computer algebra as an instrument: examples of algebraic schemes. In: The didactical challenge of symbolic calculators: turning a computational device into a mathematical instrument, (D. Guin, K. Ruthven & L. Trouche, eds.). Kluwer: Dordrecht, pp. 171-206. • Feller, W. (1968). An introduction to probability theory and its applications. Vol.1 (third ed.). Wiley: New York. • Frandsen, T.F. and Rousseau, R. (2005). Article impact calculated over arbitrary periods. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 56(1),58-62. • Ingwersen, P., Larsen, B., Rousseau, R. and Russell, J. (2001). The publication-citation matrix and its derived quantities. Chinese Science Bulletin, 46(6), 524-528. Also (in Chinese): Kexue Tongbao, 2001, 46(8), 700-704. • Jiang, G., Rousseau, R., and Wu, Y. (2003). Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Scientometrics and Informetrics. Dalian University of Technology Press, Dalian (P.R. China).

  5. Citation analysis Leading scientist in the field: Eugene Garfield Application areas: Information search and retrieval Quantitative evaluation of scientists, institutions, countries Study of the historical development of science and technology

  6. Citation indexing • A citation index is a structured list of all references in a given collection of documents • First in legal practice: Shepard’s citations • Science Citation Index (SCI), Social Science Citation Index (SSCI), Arts & Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI): Web of Science (WoS)

  7. History of citation indexes • First one (SCI): covering 1961, published (in print) in 1963 • Social Science Citation Index since 1972 (in print) • Online versions (DIALOG) • CD-ROM versions (since 1988) • Nowadays: on the Web • There also exist retrospective SCIs

  8. Why is a citation index better than a subject index for retrieval? • Citation indexes indicate subject relationships • Authors make generally better judgments than indexers • They are independent of topic descriptors • Timeliness • Multidisciplinarity • Avoiding semantic difficulties

  9. Citers’ motivations: ‘good’ reasons Giving credit for related work Identifying methodology, equipment, etc. Identifying original publications in which an idea was discussed or introduced Providing background reading Correcting work of others or of oneself Disputing priority claims

  10. Citers’ motivations: ‘bad’ reasons • Hat-tipping citations • Citations can be selected to support one’s point of view • Self-serving citations • You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours • Expectations: citing works because it is felt that it is expected to do so • Political considerations

  11. Bad publication habits • Serial publications (LPU’s, or salami slicing) • Multiple publications • Publication of luxurious reports in order to attract attention • Searching out grant funding by publishing what is fashionable

  12. Classification of citations • Moravcsik and Murugesan conceptual vs. operational organic vs. perfunctory evolutionary vs. juxtapositional confirmative vs. negational + redundancy

  13. Citers’ motivations: the work of Brooks • Result: persuasiveness (Gilbert) • No negative credit

  14. Assumptions for the proper use of citation analysis in research evaluation • Citation of a document implies use of that document by the citing author • Citation reflects merit • Citations are made to the best possible works • A cited document is related in content to the citing document

  15. Objections and problems a • Self-citations • Multiple authorship • Homographs • Synonyms • Types of sources • Implicit citations • Fluctuations in time

  16. Objections and problems b • Field variations • Incompleteness of the ISI-databases • Domination of English • American bias • Sex bias • Errors

  17. Co-authorship • First-author count (straight count) • Normal count • Fractional or adjusted count • More elaborated counting schemes • Influence of alphabetical name ordering

  18. Some remarks • Ethics of citation practices • Citation amnesia • Use of eponyms • Problem of superspecialization • Invisibility of work from developing countries

  19. Conclusion • Citation analysis is not a substitute or shortcut for critical thinking. • It is a point of departure for those willing to explore the avenues to thorough evaluation. • Peer review is also necessary

More Related