EP 02: CITATION COUNTS | 2-MIN METRICS SERIES

Описание: In this episode, we will introduce the citation count metric using real-world examples. A citation
count is a basic citation metric that is simply the total number of citations received to date. Let’s take a look at a real example from Scopus. Here, we can check the citation count of this article by Dr. Kevin Lo. It has been cited 161 times so far by other articles indexed in Scopus.

Other than individual articles, a citation count can also be calculated for an author. We can see that
Dr. Lo has a cumulative total citation count of 670 on Scopus.

To find citation count metrics, the 3 most common tools are:

❶ Web of Science
❷ Scopus
❸ Google Scholar

You need to be aware however, that these sources have different journal and source
coverage so the resulting metrics may vary. Inconsistencies can also arise from variant author
names and thus split profiles. For example, Dr. Lo’s cumulative author citation count in Web of
Science is 508. But on Google Scholar, the number is almost double, at 910. This is because
Google Scholar has broader source coverage.

Although citation counting is the most straightforward research impact metric, they cannot be taken at face value. For example, poor quality papers can draw a lot of citations too - they’re cited not because they’re good, but because they’re being criticised!

This article (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...) linking vaccines and autism was found to be fraudulent and subsequently retracted. Its citations come from researchers critical of its poor methodology.

Another issue is accusations of academics gaming the system with self-citations.

It’s important to note that citations take time to accrue, thus very recent publications may have very
few or zero citations. Citation patterns may also be discipline-dependent. Traditionally, Social
Sciences and Humanities scholars receive fewer citations because they publish more often in books and conference papers.

Other tools need to be used alongside citation counts to arrive at a more balanced assessment. For
example, the same Scopus article by Dr. Lo mentioned previously also includes the Field-Weighted
Citation Impact, or FWCI, to provide a more balanced view in addition to citation counts. More
details about FWCI are provided in another video in this series.

If you’re ready to find out more, dive into other episodes in our 2 MIN METRICS series and continue
on with your metrics journey!

#metrics #researchimpact #bibliometrics #scholcomm #citations