Personal Research Database

Full Text: 2009\Scientometrics78, 231.pdf

Abstract: This manuscript provides guidance to Deans and other academic decision makers in the hiring process and dispels the validity of a widely held assumption commonly used as a decision factor in the selection process. This paper investigates: (a) whether graduates of prestigious information systems (IS) doctoral programs (graduates with high-status academic origins) are more likely to be successful in their academic careers (as measured by research productivity) than graduates of less prestigious programs, (b) whether IS faculty who are employed by esteemed universities (faculty with high-status academic affiliations) are more productive researchers than IS faculty employed by lower-status institutions, and (c) examines faculty productivity in terms of Lotka’s Law [Lotka, 1926]. The findings indicate that in the IS field, productivity does not follow a Lotka distribution. Moreover, our study also shows that academic affiliation is a significant determinant of research productivity in terms of quantity (as measured by publication counts) and quality (as measured by citation counts). Contrary to common expectations, however, the analysis shows that the status of a faculty member’s academic origin is not a significant determinant of research productivity in the field of information systems. Therefore, continued reliance on academic pedigree as a primary criterion for hiring decisions may not be justified in the IS discipline.

Keywords: Academic, Affiliation, Analysis, Business Schools, Careers, Citation, Citation Analysis, Citation Counts, Decision, Distribution, Faculty, Field, Global Perceptions, Guidance, Hiring, Impact, Information, Information Systems, Institutions, Is, Leading Journals, Lotka, Management, Mis Research, Origin, Primary, Process, Productivity, Publication, Publication Counts, Publication Productivity, Quality, Research, Research Performance, Research Productivity, Scientific Productivity, Selection, Status, Systems, Theoretical Population-Genetics, Universities, Validity

? Kao, C. and Pao, H.L. (2009), An evaluation of research performance in management of 168 Taiwan universities. Scientometrics, 78 (2), 261-277.

Full Text: 2009\Scientometrics78, 261.pdf

Abstract: As the major concerns of the university are teaching and research, this paper describes the study of a nation-wide evaluation of research performance in management for 168 universities in Taiwan. In addition to the popular indicators of SCI/SSCI journal publications and citations, the number of projects funded by the National Science Council of Taiwan was used to account for the special characteristic of the field of management. The evaluation was based on individual professors rather than management programs, so that all types of universities, including those without management departments, could be compared. Performances of each university in those three indicators were aggregated by a set of a posteriori weights which were most favourable to all universities in calculating the aggregated score. The results show that public universities, in general, performed better than private ones. Universities with specific missions had comparable performance to general comprehensive ones. Analyses from a set of a priori weights solicited from experts showed that the results of this study are robust to the indicators selected and the weights used.

Keywords: Citations, Data Envelopment Analysis, Departments, Efficiency, Evaluation, Experts, Field, General, Indicators, Journal, Journal Evaluation, Libraries, Management, Performance, Public, Publications, Research, Research Performance, Taiwan, Teaching, Universities, University, Weights

? Tsay, M.Y. (2009), An analysis and comparison of scientometric data between journals of physics, chemistry and engineering. Scientometrics, 78 (2), 279-293.

Full Text: 2009\Scientometrics78, 279.pdf

Abstract: By employing the Pearson correlation, Fisher-and t-tests, the present study analyzes and compares scientometric data including number of source items, number of citations, impact factor, immediacy index, citing half-life and cited half-life, for essential journals in physics, chemistry and engineering, from SCI JCR on the Web 2002. The results of the study reveal that for all the scientometric indicators, except the cited half-life, there is no significant mean difference between physics and chemistry subjects indicating similar citation behavior among the scientists. There is no significant mean difference in the citing half-life among the three subjects. Significant mean difference is generally observed for most of the scientometric indicators between engineering and physics (or chemistry) demonstrating the difference in citation behavior among engineering researchers and scientists in physics or chemistry. Significant correlations among number of source items, number of citations, impact factor, and immediacy index and between cited half-life and citing half-life generally prevail for each of the three subjects. On the contrary, in general, there is no significant correlation between the cited half-life and other scientometric indicators. The three subjects present the same strength of the correlations between number of source items and number of citations, between number of citations and impact factor, and between cited half-life and citing half-life.

Keywords: Analysis, Behavior, Chemistry, Citation, Citations, Cited Half-Life, Comparison, Correlation, Correlations, Data, Engineering, General, Half-Life, Immediacy Index, Impact, Impact Factor, Index, Indicators, Journals, SCI, Scientometric, Source, Strength

? Gupta, B.M. and Dhawan, S.M. (2009), Status of physics research in India: An analysis of research output during 1993-2001. Scientometrics, 78 (2), 295-316.

Full Text: 2009\Scientometrics78, 295.pdf

Abstract: The paper reviews the present status of Indian physics research, in particular its nature of research system, nature of institutions involved, type of education offered and outturn at postgraduate and Ph.D level, the extent to which extra-mural funding support is available from various governmental R&D agencies, and the nature of professional organizations involved. The study is based on analysis of Indian physics output, as indexed in Expanded Science Citation Index (Web of Science) during 1993-2001. The study also discusses various features of Indian physics research such as its growth in terms of research papers, institutional publication productivity, nature of collaboration, and the quality and impact of its research output.

Keywords: Analysis, China, Citation, Citation Patterns, Collaboration, Education, Funding, Growth, Impact, India, Indian, Institutions, Laser Research, Macro, Papers, Productivity, Publication, Quality, Research, Reviews, Science, Science Citation Index, Scientometrics, Status, Support, Technology, Type of Education, Web of Science

? van der Wal, R., Fischer, A., Marquiss, M., Redpath, S. and Wanless, S. (2009), Is bigger necessarily better for environmental research? Scientometrics, 78 (2), 317-322.

Full Text: 2009\Scientometrics78, 317.pdf

Abstract: In restructuring environmental research organisations, smaller sites generally disappear and larger sites are created. These decisions are based on the economic principle, ‘economies of scale’, whereby the average cost of each unit produced falls as output increases. We show that this principle does not apply to the scientific performance of environmental research institutes, as productivity per scientist decreased with increasing size of a research site. The results are best explained by the principle ‘diseconomies of scale’, whereby powerful social factors limit the productivity of larger groupings. These findings should be considered when restructuring environmental science organisations to maximise their quality.

Keywords: Cost, Economic, Economics, Environmental, Environmental Research, Environmental Science, Law, Performance, Planned Behavior, Productivity, Quality, Reasoned Action, Research, Scale, Science, Scientific Performance, Site, Size, Social, Social Factors

? Gossart, C. and Ozman, M. (2009), Co-authorship networks in social sciences: The case of Turkey. Scientometrics, 78 (2), 323-345.

Full Text: 2009\Scientometrics78, 323.pdf

Abstract: We analyse the co-authorship networks of researchers affiliated at universities in Turkey by using two databases: the international SSCI database and the Turkish ULAKBIM database. We find that co-authorship networks are composed largely of isolated groups and there is little intersection between the two databases, permitting little knowledge diffusion. There seems to be two disparate populations of researchers. While some scholars publish mostly in the international journals, others target the national audience, and there is very little intersection between the two populations. The same observation is valid for universities, among which there is very little collaboration. Our results point out that while Turkish social sciences and humanities publications have been growing impressively in the last decade, domestic networks to ensure the dissemination of knowledge and of research output are very weak and should be supported by domestic policies.

Keywords: Co-Authorship, Co-Authorship Networks, Coauthorship, Collaboration, Cooperation, Database, Databases, Diffusion, Humanities, International, Journals, Knowledge, Knowledge Diffusion, Localization, National, Networks, Observation, Patterns, Policies, Populations, Profiles, Publications, Research, Research Collaboration, Sciences, Self-Organization, Social, Social Sciences, SSCI, Turkey, Turkish, Universities

? Jasienski, M. (2009), Garfield’s demon and “surprising” or “unexpected” results in science. Scientometrics, 78 (2), 347-353.

Full Text: 2009\Scientometrics78, 189.pdf

Abstract: The relative occurrence of the words “surprising” and “unexpected” in the titles of scientific papers was 11 times more common in 2001-2005 than in 1900-1955. However, papers which had titles containing one of these words did not receive enhanced numbers of citations. Both words (and also adjectives “unusual” and “unfortunately”) are used significantly more frequently in science than in social sciences and humanities. The distribution of the statements of surprise is not random in scientific literature (chemistry journals ranked highest in the number of papers claiming “surprising” or “unexpected” results) and may reflect the level of maturity of a discipline.

Keywords: Challenge, Chemistry, Citations, Discovery, Distribution, Humanities, Index, Journals, Literature, Media, Papers, Science, Sciences, Scientific Literature, Social, Social Sciences

? Glänzel, W. (2009), The multi-dimensionality of journal impact. Scientometrics, 78 (2), 355-374.

Full Text: 2009\Scientometrics78, 355.pdf

Abstract: In recent studies the issue of the relatedness between journal impact factors and other measures of journal impact have been raised and discussed from both merely empirical and theoretical perspectives. Models of the underlying citation processes suggest distributions with two or more free parameters. Proceeding from the relation between the journals’ mean citation rate and uncitedness and the assumption of an underlying Generalised Waring Distribution (GWD) model, it is found that the journal impact factor alone does not sufficiently describe a journal’s citation impact, while a two-parameter solution appropriately reflects its main characteristics. For the analysis of highly cited publications an additional model derived from the same GWD is suggested. This approach results in robust, comprehensible and interpretable solutions that can readily be applied in evaluative bibliometrics.

Keywords: Analysis, Approach, Bibliometrics, Characteristics, Citation, Citation Impact, Generalized Waring Distribution, Impact, Impact Factor, Impact Factors, Index, Journal, Journal Impact, Journal Impact Factor, Journal Impact Factors, Journals, Model, Models, Publications, Scientific Literature, Skew Distributions, Solution, Solutions, Stochastic-Model, Uncitedness

? Schubert, A., Korn, A. and Telcs, A. (2009), Hirsch-type indices for characterizing networks. Scientometrics, 78 (2), 375-382.

Full Text: 2009\Scientometrics78, 375.pdf

Abstract: Hirsch-type indices are devised for characterizing networks and network elements. Their actual use is demonstrated on scientometric examples, and the potential value of the concept on a practically unlimited range of networks is suggested.

Keywords: h-Index, Indices, Journals, Network, Networks, Potential, Scientometric, Value

? Valles-Valenzuela, J., Perez-Carceles, M.D., Osuna, E. and Luna, A. (2009), Quantitative analysis of Spanish university scientific output in the area of Legal and Forensic Medicine: International exposure. Scientometrics, 78 (3), 383-395.

Full Text: 2009\Scientometrics78, 383.pdf

Abstract: We set out to analyse and quantify the papers published (for an international readership) by Spanish universities in the field of Legal and Forensic Medicine. For this, we used the MEDLINE data base, to analyse research articles in which a Spanish university teacher (whose sole employment was with a university, as registered by the Ministry of Education in July 2005, (n = 67), appeared as author or co-author in this field. The years covered are 1952 (First year that a Spanish author appears for an article on Legal and Forensic Medicine in this service) to July 2005. A total of 770 articles were counted, the productivity in this area was increasing substantially from the 1980’s onwards. English language scientific journals were the preferred channel of communication. Slightly more than 85% of the works can be classified into four themes, of which Genetics is the most prolific. The number of papers published in English journals represented 84% of the total and only 13% was published in Spanish journals. There was a close relationship between growth in the authority index and inter-institutional co-operation, which boosted the production of articles. When at least one of the authorship of a published paper was a Spanish university teacher, the research was led by a university in 62.4% of cases, and of this 85.6% were Spanish universities.

Keywords: Analysis, Authority, Authors, Authorship, Co-Author, Communication, Cooperation, Data, Data Base, Employment, Exposure, Field, Growth, Index, International, Journals, Language, Mar, Medline, Papers, Production, Productivity, Research, Scientific Journals, Scientific Output, Service, Spain, Spanish, Spanish Journals, Universities, University

? Kao, C. (2009), The authorship and country spread of Operation Research journals. Scientometrics, 78 (3), 397-407.

Full Text: 2009\Scientometrics78, 397.pdf

Abstract: This paper surveys 56 internationally renowned OR journals published in 1996-2005 with regard to authorship. Our findings show that the USA was the country that contributed the largest amount, approximately one-third, of research results to OR journals. Authors tend to publish papers in their home-country journals. Journal of the Operations Research Society of Japan has the highest author concentration, with more than 85% of the authors from Japan and European Journal of Operational Research, on the contrary, has the widest country spread of its authors. The entropy measure provides a whole picture of the share of all countries, based on which the editorial policy of a journal can be adjusted.

Keywords: Authors, Authorship, Citation Patterns, Concentration, Country, Entropy, Flagship Journals, Japan, Journal, Journals, Mar, Measure, OR, MS, Papers, Policy, Research, Research Results, Surveys, USA

? Johnston, R. (2009), The extent of influence: An alternative approach to identifying dominant contributors to a discipline’s literature. Scientometrics, 78 (3), 409-420.

Full Text: 2009\Scientometrics78, 409.pdf

Abstract: Most studies of scholarly influence within disciplines using citation data do not investigate the extent of an individual’s influence, does it extend over a number of years with a sequence of publications or is it confined to a short period and a small number of publications? Using bibliographic data from a series of quadrennial reports into developments in UK geography, this paper finds that few authors are cited on more than one occasion.

Keywords: Alternative, Approach, Authors, Citation, Data, Influence, International Geographical Congress, Literature, Mar, Publications, Small, UK, United-Kingdom

? Yang, H. (2009), The top 40 citation classics in the Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. Scientometrics, 78 (3), 421-426.

Full Text: 2009\Scientometrics78, 421.pdf

Abstract: This study used citation analysis method to identify the 40 classics published in the Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology from 1956 to 2007. Yhe year and subject distributions of these classic references reflect the history and the current status of information science.

Keywords: American, Analysis, Citation, Citation Analysis, Citation Classics, History, Information, Information Science, Jasis, MAR, References, Science, Status

? Zimmerman, E., Glänzel, W. and Bar-Ilan, J. (2009), Scholarly collaboration between Europe and Israel: A scientometric examination of a changing landscape. Scientometrics, 78 (3), 427-446.

Full Text: 2009\Scientometrics78, 427.pdf

Abstract: In this paper we examine various aspects of the scientific collaboration between Europe and Israel, and show that the traditional collaboration patterns of Israel (preference towards collaboration with the US) is changing, and the collaboration with the EU countries is growing.

Keywords: Co-Authorship, Collaboration, EU, Europe, Examination, Indicators, Israel, Landscape, MAR, Preference, Science Fields, Scientific Collaboration, Scientometric, US

? Amat, C.B. and Yegros, A. (2009), Median age difference of references as indicator of information update of research groups: A case study in Spanish food research. Scientometrics, 78 (3), 447-465.

Full Text: 2009\Scientometrics78, 447.pdf

Abstract: Median age difference (D) is obtained by subtracting median value of the age distribution of references of a scientific paper from citing half life of the journal that published it. Such an indicator can be related to the state of knowledge of research groups and can show some interesting properties: 1) it must be related with the incorporation of information pieces in an informal way, say the rate of self-citations, 2) it must follow the natural tendency of the groups towards a progressively updated state of knowledge, and 3) more productive groups will tend to use more recent information. These natural hypotheses have been investigated using a medium sized Spanish institution devoted to Food Research as a case study. Scientific output comprised 439 papers published in SCI journals between 1999 and 2004 by 16 research teams. Their 14,617 references were analyzed. Variables studied were number of published papers by every team, number of authors per paper, number of references per paper, type of documents cited, self citation rate and chronological range of reference lists. Number of authors per paper ranged between 1 and 15. The most frequent value (N = 128) was 3 authors. Average number of authors per paper is 4.03 (SD = 1.74). Mean number of references per paper (including review papers) is 33.3 (SD= 17.39) with slight differences between the groups. Mean self-citation rate was 13.72 % (SD = 11.7). The greatest chronological range was 119 years, half of all ranges was 30 years and the general mean for this variable was 33.34 years (SD = 16.34). D values were associated with self-citation rate and a negative relationship between D and chronological range of references was also found. Nevertheless, correlation figures were too small to reach sound conclusions about the effect of these variables. Number of references per paper, number of contributing authors and number of papers published by each team were not associated with D. D values can discriminate between groups managing updated information and delayed research teams. Publication delay affects D figures. Discontinuity of research lines, heterogeneity of research fields and the short time lapse studied could have some influence on the results of the study. It is suggested that a great coverage is needed to evaluate properly D figures as indicators of information update of research groups.

Keywords: Age, Authors, Case Study, Citation, Correlation, Coverage, Delay, Distribution, Food, General, Half-Life, Heterogeneity, Incorporation, Indicator, Indicators, Influence, Informal, Information, Journal, Journals, Knowledge, Life, MAR, N, Natural, Papers, Reference, Reference Lists, References, Research, Review, SCI, Science, Self, Self-Citation, Self-Citations, Small, Spanish, State, Value, Values

? Jensen, P., Rouquier, J.B. and Croissant, Y. (2009), Testing bibliometric indicators by their prediction of scientists promotions. Scientometrics, 78 (3), 467-479.

Full Text: 2009\Scientometrics78, 467.pdf

Abstract: We have developed a method to obtain robust quantitative bibliometric indicators for several thousand scientists. This allows us to study the dependence of bibliometric indicators (such as number of publications, number of citations, Hirsch index...) on the age, position, etc. of CNRS scientists. Our data suggests that the normalized h-index (h divided by the career length) is not constant for scientists with the same productivity but different ages. We also compare the predictions of several bibliometric indicators on the promotions of about 600 CNRS researchers. Contrary to previous publications, our study encompasses most disciplines, and shows that no single indicator is the best predictor for all disciplines. Overall, however, the Hirsch index h provides the least bad correlations, followed by the number of papers published. It is important to realize however that even h is able to recover only half of the actual promotions. The number of citations or the mean number of citations per paper are definitely not good predictors of promotion.

Keywords: Age, Bibliometric, Bibliometric Indicators, Citation, Citations, Correlations, Data, Dependence, h Index, h-Index, Hirsch, Hirsch Index, Index, Index h, Indicator, Indicators, Length, MAR, Papers, Prediction, Predictions, Predictors, Productivity, Promotion, Publications, Single Indicator

? Wu, Z.Q. (2009), An empirical study of the accessibility of web references in two Chinese academic journals. Scientometrics, 78 (3), 481-503.

Full Text: 2009\Scientometrics78, 481.pdf

Abstract: To discover the current situation and characteristics of web reference accessibility, the present study examined the accessibility of 1,637 web references in two key Chinese academic journals published from 1999 to 2003. The author develops linear regression models to demonstrate the decay of web reference accessibility. The study examines the influence of high use of web references in a paper, the associations between web reference accessibility and generic domain, country domain, protocol, and resource type, respectively, and classifies inaccessible web references according to Internet Explorer feedbacks. It compares the retrieval efficacy among three kinds of retrieval methods and reports on the limitations of Internet Archive.

Keywords: Academic, Characteristics, Chinese, Country, Decay, Efficacy, Influence, Internet, Internet Citations, Journals, Linear Regression, Linear-Regression, Link, MAR, Methods, Models, Page, Permanence, Persistence, Reference, References, Regression, Resource, Stability, Time, Urls, Web

? Yanagisawa, K. and Takahashi, S. (2009), Socio-economic effects of the material science in JAERI. Scientometrics,