Title |
The Citation Merit of Scientific Publications
|
---|---|
Published in |
PLOS ONE, November 2012
|
DOI | 10.1371/journal.pone.0049156 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Juan A. Crespo, Ignacio Ortuño-Ortín, Javier Ruiz-Castillo |
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 [Formula: see text]-index, the merit of a given set of [Formula: see text] articles is identified with the probability that a randomly drawn set of [Formula: see text] 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 [Formula: see text]-index. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Spain | 4 | 17% |
Peru | 2 | 9% |
United Kingdom | 2 | 9% |
Comoros | 1 | 4% |
Indonesia | 1 | 4% |
Turkey | 1 | 4% |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1 | 4% |
Poland | 1 | 4% |
United States | 1 | 4% |
Other | 3 | 13% |
Unknown | 6 | 26% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 12 | 52% |
Scientists | 8 | 35% |
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 2 | 9% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 4% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Mexico | 1 | 3% |
Germany | 1 | 3% |
Unknown | 37 | 95% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Researcher | 7 | 18% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 5 | 13% |
Professor | 5 | 13% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 5 | 13% |
Professor > Associate Professor | 4 | 10% |
Other | 7 | 18% |
Unknown | 6 | 15% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Social Sciences | 9 | 23% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 5 | 13% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 4 | 10% |
Environmental Science | 3 | 8% |
Economics, Econometrics and Finance | 2 | 5% |
Other | 10 | 26% |
Unknown | 6 | 15% |