Assessing the authority of free online scholarly information

Chuanfu Chen (), Yuan Yu, Qiong Tang, Kuei Chiu, Yan Rao, Xuan Huang and Kai Sun
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Chuanfu Chen: Wuhan University
Yuan Yu: Wuhan University
Qiong Tang: Sun Yat-sen University
Kuei Chiu: University of California
Yan Rao: Wuhan University
Xuan Huang: Shenzhen Institute of Standards and Technology
Kai Sun: Wuhan University

Scientometrics, 2012, vol. 90, issue 2, No 14, 543-560

Abstract: Abstract Authority generally relates to expertise, recognition of official status of a source, and the reputation of the author and publisher. As the Internet has become a ubiquitous tool in modern science and scholarly research, evaluating the authority of free online scholarly information is becoming crucial. However, few empirical studies have focused on this issue. Using a modified version of Jim Kapoun’s “Five criteria for evaluating web pages” as framework, this research selected 32 keywords from eight disciplines, inputted them into three search engines (Google, Yahoo and AltaVista) and used Analytic Hierarchy Process to determine the weights. The first batches of results (web pages) from keyword searching were selected as evaluation samples (in the two search phases, the first 50 and 10 results were chosen, respectively), and a total of 3,134 samples were evaluated for authority based on the evaluation framework. The results show that the average authority value for free online scholarly information is about 3.63 (out of five), which is in the “fair” level (3 ≤ Z

Keywords: Free online scholarly information; Authority; Assessment; Evaluation tools (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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DOI: 10.1007/s11192-011-0524-5

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