The evaluation of citation distributions

Javier Ruiz-Castillo ()

Open Access publications from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

Abstract: This paper reviews a number of recent contributions that demonstrate that a blend of welfare economics and statistical analysis is useful in the evaluation of the citations received by scientifi papers in the periodical literature. The paper begins by clarifying the role of citation analysis in the evaluation of research. Next, a summary of results about the citation distributions’ basic features at different aggregation levels is offered. These results indicate that citation distributions share the same broad shape, are highly skewed, and are often crowned by a power law. In light of this evidence, a novel methodology for the evaluation of research units is illustrated by comparing the high- and low-citation impact achieved by the US, the European Union, and the rest of the world in 22 scientifi fields However, contrary to recent claims, it is shown that mean normalization at the sub-fiel level does not lead to a universal distribution. Nevertheless, among other topics subject to ongoing research, it appears that this lack of universality does not preclude sensible normalization procedures to compare the citation impact of articles in different scientifi fields

Keywords: Citation analysis; Power law; Research performance; Poverty measurement; European paradox (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O31 Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-sog
Date: 2011-03
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Published in Series-Journal of the Spanish Economic Association (2011-03) v.v. 3, p.291-310

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http://e-archivo.uc3m.es/bitstream/10016/13323/1/e ... lo_SJSEA_2011_ps.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: The evaluation of citation distributions (2012)
Working Paper: The Evaluation of Citation Distributions (2011)
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ner:carlos:info:hdl:10016/13323

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