This book deals with the evaluation of scholarly research performance by means of citation analysis. For citation analysis to be effective as a research evaluation tool, it is essential that all participants understand its nature, how its indicators are constructed and calculated, what they intend to measure, and their potentialities and limitations, particularly in relation to peer review. This text is designed to provide such insight. The author applies 20 years of experience to reveal important facts, to correct common misunderstandings, and to offer a critical examination of the limitations and pitfalls of citation analysis in research evaluation.

Klappentext

This book is written for members of the scholarly research community, and for persons involved in research evaluation and research policy. More specifically, it is directed towards the following four main groups of readers: - All scientists and scholars who have been or will be subjected to a quantitative assessment of research performance using citation analysis. - Research policy makers and managers who wish to become conversant with the basic features of citation analysis, and about its potentialities and limitations. - Members of peer review committees and other evaluators, who consider the use of citation analysis as a tool in their assessments. - Practitioners and students in the field of quantitative science and technology studies, informetrics, and library and information science. Citation analysis involves the construction and application of a series of indicators of the 'impact', 'influence' or 'quality' of scholarly work, derived from citation data, i.e. data on references cited in footnotes or bibliographies of scholarly research publications. Such indicators are applied both in the study of scholarly communication and in the assessment of research performance. The term 'scholarly' comprises all domains of science and scholarship, including not only those fields that are normally denoted as science - the natural and life sciences, mathematical and technical sciences - but also social sciences and humanities.

Inhalt
Executive Summary.- General Introduction and Main Conclusions.- General Introduction.- Basic Notions and General Conclusions.- Synopsis.- Empirical and Theoretical Chapters.- Citation Analysis of Basic Science Research Departments.- Citation Analysis of Scientific Journals.- Basic Principles, Citation Links and Terminology.- ISI Coverage by Discipline.- Implications for the Use of the ISI Citation Indexes in Research Evaluation.- Differences Between Science, Social Sciences and Humanities.- Expanded Citation Analysis: A Case Study in Economics.- A Case Study of Research Performance in Law.- Introductory Notes on Accuracy Issues.- Accuracy of Citation Counts.- Problems with the Names of Authors and Institutions, and with the Delimitation of Subfields.- What do References and Citations Measure?.- Towards a Theory of Citation: Some Building Blocks.- Implications for the Use of Citation Analysis in Research Evaluation.- Peer Review and the Use and Validity of Citation Analysis.- Analysis of Peer Assessments of Research Departments.- Analysis of a National Research Council.- Did Global Scientific Publication Productivity Increase During the 1980s and 1990s?.- Measuring Trends in National Publication Output.- Does International Scientific Collaboration Pay?.- Do US Scientists Overcite Papers from their Own Country?.- Development of New Indicators.- Electronic Publishing, New Databases and Search Engines.- Further Research.