Some comments on Egghe's derivation of the impact factor distribution

Ludo Waltman and Nees Jan van Eck

Journal of Informetrics, 2009, vol. 3, issue 4, 363-366

Abstract: In a recent paper, Egghe [Egghe, L. (in press). Mathematical derivation of the impact factor distribution. Journal of Informetrics] presents a mathematical analysis of the rank-order distribution of journal impact factors. The analysis is based on the central limit theorem. We criticize the empirical relevance of Egghe's analysis. More specifically, we argue that Egghe's analysis relies on an unrealistic assumption and we show that the analysis is not in agreement with empirical data.

Keywords: Impact factor; Distribution; Rank-order distribution; Central limit theorem (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:infome:v:3:y:2009:i:4:p:363-366

DOI: 10.1016/j.joi.2009.05.004

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