A ranking of universities should account for differences in their disciplinary specialization

Carmen López-Illescas (), Félix Moya-Anegón () and Henk F. Moed ()
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Carmen López-Illescas: SCImago Unit, IPP, CCHS, CSIC, Spanish National Research Council
Félix Moya-Anegón: SCImago Unit, IPP, CCHS, CSIC, Spanish National Research Council
Henk F. Moed: Elsevier

Scientometrics, 2011, vol. 88, issue 2, No 15, 563-574

Abstract: Abstract A bibliometric analysis of the 50 most frequently publishing Spanish universities shows large differences in the publication activity and citation impact among research disciplines within an institution. Gini Index is a useful measure of an institution’s disciplinary specialization and can roughly categorize universities in terms of general versus specialized. A study of the Spanish academic system reveals that assessment of a university’s research performance must take into account the disciplinary breadth of its publication activity and citation impact. It proposes the use of graphs showing not only a university’s article production and citation impact, but also its disciplinary specialization. Such graphs constitute both a warning and a remedy against one-dimensional approaches to the assessment of institutional research performance.

Keywords: University rankings; Disciplinary specialization; Academic systems; Spanish academic system; Institutional research performance; Bibliometrics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (18)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11192-011-0398-6

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