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The citation triad: An overview of a scientist's publication output based on Ferrers diagrams

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  • Franceschini, Fiorenzo
  • Maisano, Domenico

Abstract

In a recent work by Anderson, Hankin, and Killworth (2008), Ferrers diagrams and Durfee squares are used to represent the scientific output of a scientist and construct a new h-based bibliometric indicator, the tapered h-index (hT). In the first part of this paper we examine hT, identifying its main drawbacks and weaknesses: an arbitrary scoring system and an illusory increase in discrimination power compared to h. Subsequently, we propose a new bibliometric tool, the citation triad (CT), that better exploits the information contained in a Ferrers diagram, giving a synthetic overview of a scientist's publication output. The advantages of this new approach are discussed in detail. Argument is supported by several examples based on empirical data.

Suggested Citation

  • Franceschini, Fiorenzo & Maisano, Domenico, 2010. "The citation triad: An overview of a scientist's publication output based on Ferrers diagrams," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 4(4), pages 503-511.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:infome:v:4:y:2010:i:4:p:503-511
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joi.2010.05.004
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    1. Leo Egghe, 2006. "Theory and practise of the g-index," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 69(1), pages 131-152, October.
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    3. Gangan Prathap, 2010. "Going much beyond the Durfee square: enhancing the h T index," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 84(1), pages 149-152, July.
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    9. Chun-Ting Zhang, 2009. "The e-Index, Complementing the h-Index for Excess Citations," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 4(5), pages 1-4, May.
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    11. Thomas R. Anderson & Robin K. S. Hankin & Peter D. Killworth, 2008. "Beyond the Durfee square: Enhancing the h-index to score total publication output," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 76(3), pages 577-588, September.
    12. Costas, Rodrigo & Bordons, María, 2007. "The h-index: Advantages, limitations and its relation with other bibliometric indicators at the micro level," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 1(3), pages 193-203.
    13. Anthony F. J. Raan, 2006. "Comparison of the Hirsch-index with standard bibliometric indicators and with peer judgment for 147 chemistry research groups," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 67(3), pages 491-502, June.
    14. S. Alonso & F. J. Cabrerizo & E. Herrera-Viedma & F. Herrera, 2010. "hg-index: a new index to characterize the scientific output of researchers based on the h- and g-indices," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 82(2), pages 391-400, February.
    15. Alonso, S. & Cabrerizo, F.J. & Herrera-Viedma, E. & Herrera, F., 2009. "h-Index: A review focused in its variants, computation and standardization for different scientific fields," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 273-289.
    16. Franceschini, Fiorenzo & Maisano, Domenico, 2010. "The Hirsch spectrum: A novel tool for analyzing scientific journals," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 4(1), pages 64-73.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. García-Pérez, Miguel A., 2012. "An extension of the h index that covers the tail and the top of the citation curve and allows ranking researchers with similar h," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 689-699.
    2. Fiorenzo Franceschini & Maurizio Galetto & Domenico Maisano & Luca Mastrogiacomo, 2012. "The success-index: an alternative approach to the h-index for evaluating an individual’s research output," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 92(3), pages 621-641, September.
    3. Franceschini, Fiorenzo & Maisano, Domenico, 2011. "Regularity in the research output of individual scientists: An empirical analysis by recent bibliometric tools," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 5(3), pages 458-468.
    4. Franceschini, Fiorenzo & Galetto, Maurizio & Maisano, Domenico & Mastrogiacomo, Luca, 2013. "An informetric model for the success-index," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 109-116.
    5. Franceschini, Fiorenzo & Maisano, Domenico, 2011. "Structured evaluation of the scientific output of academic research groups by recent h-based indicators," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 64-74.
    6. Fiorenzo Franceschini & Domenico Maisano, 2011. "Proposals for evaluating the regularity of a scientist’s research output," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 88(1), pages 279-295, July.
    7. Antonis Sidiropoulos & Dimitrios Katsaros & Yannis Manolopoulos, 2015. "Ranking and identifying influential scientists versus mass producers by the Perfectionism Index," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 103(1), pages 1-31, April.
    8. Keshra Sangwal, 2012. "On the relationship between citations of publication output and Hirsch index h of authors: conceptualization of tapered Hirsch index h T, circular citation area radius R and citation acceleration a," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 93(3), pages 987-1004, December.

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