1. The citation merit of scientific publications
- Author
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Ignacio Ortuño-Ortín, Javier Ruiz-Castillo, Juan A. Crespo, and UAM. Departamento de Análisis Económico: Economía Cuantitativa
- Subjects
Citation merit ,Universities ,Clinical Research Design ,Science Policy ,Economics ,Science ,lcsh:Medicine ,Bibliometrics ,050905 science studies ,Citation impact ,Computer Science::Digital Libraries ,Set (abstract data type) ,Citation analysis ,Ctation impact indicator ,Mean citation ,Statistical Methods ,lcsh:Science ,GeneralLiterature_REFERENCE(e.g.,dictionaries,encyclopedias,glossaries) ,Physics ,Multidisciplinary ,Information retrieval ,Applied Mathematics ,lcsh:R ,Statistics ,05 social sciences ,Neurosciences ,University Laboratories ,Research Assessment ,Field (geography) ,Periodical literature ,Estadística y Demografía / Estadística ,Index (publishing) ,Medicine ,lcsh:Q ,Clinical Medicine ,0509 other social sciences ,Research Laboratories ,Laboratories ,050904 information & library sciences ,Citation ,H-index ,Mathematics ,Publication Practices ,Research Article - Abstract
We propose a new method to assess the merit of any set of scientific papers in a given field based on the citations they receive. Given a field and a citation impact indicator, such as the mean citation or the h-index, the merit of a given set of n articles is identified with the probability that a randomly drawn set of n articles from a given pool of articles in that field has a lower citation impact according to the indicator in question. The method allows for comparisons between sets of articles of different sizes and fields. Using a dataset acquired from Thomson Scientific that contains the articles published in the periodical literature in the period 1998–2007, we show that the novel approach yields rankings of research units different from those obtained by a direct application of the mean citation or the h-index., The authors acknowledge financial support from the Santander Universities Global Division of Banco Santander. JR-C also acknowledges financial help from the Spanish MEC (Ministerio de Educación) through grant SEJ2007-67436. JAC and IO-O also acknowledge financial help from the Spanish MEC through grant ECO2010-19596. This paper is produced as part of the project Science, Innovation, Firms and markets in a Globalised World (SCIFI-GLOW), a Collaborative Project funded by the European Commission’s Seventh Research Framework Programme, Contract number SSH7-CT-2008-217436.
- Published
- 2012