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The case of scientometricians with the “absolute relative” impact indicator

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  • Vinkler, Péter

Abstract

The effect of two different calculation methods for obtaining relative impact indicators is modelled. Science policy considerations make it clear that evaluating the sets of publications, the “ratio of the sums” method should be preferred over the “mean of the ratios” method. Accordingly, determining the relative total impact against the mean relative impact of the publications of teams or institutes may be preferred. The special problem caused by relating the number of citations of an individual article to the Garfield (Impact) Factor (or mean citedness) of the publishing journal (or a set of journals selected as standard) lower than zero is demonstrated by examples. The possible effects of the different share of publications in different fields on the value of the “new crown” index are also modelled. The assessment methods using several appropriately weighted indicators which result in a composite index are recommended. The acronym “BMV” is suggested to term the relative impact indicators (e.g. RCR, CPP/JCSm, CPP/FCSm and RW) in scientometrics.

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  • Vinkler, Péter, 2012. "The case of scientometricians with the “absolute relative” impact indicator," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 254-264.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:infome:v:6:y:2012:i:2:p:254-264
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joi.2011.12.004
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    2. Loet Leydesdorff, 2013. "An evaluation of impacts in “Nanoscience & nanotechnology”: steps towards standards for citation analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 94(1), pages 35-55, January.
    3. Peter Vinkler, 2018. "Structure of the scientific research and science policy," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 114(2), pages 737-756, February.
    4. Finardi, Ugo, 2013. "Correlation between Journal Impact Factor and Citation Performance: An experimental study," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 357-370.
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    6. Dunaiski, Marcel & Geldenhuys, Jaco & Visser, Willem, 2019. "Globalised vs averaged: Bias and ranking performance on the author level," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 299-313.
    7. Zhihui Zhang & Ying Cheng & Nian Cai Liu, 2014. "Comparison of the effect of mean-based method and z-score for field normalization of citations at the level of Web of Science subject categories," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 101(3), pages 1679-1693, December.
    8. Vinkler, Péter, 2014. "The use of the Percentage Rank Position index for comparative evaluation of journals," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 340-348.
    9. Loizides, Orestis-Stavros & Koutsakis, Polychronis, 2017. "On evaluating the quality of a computer science/computer engineering conference," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 541-552.
    10. Péter Vinkler, 2012. "The Garfield impact factor, one of the fundamental indicators in scientometrics," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 92(2), pages 471-483, August.
    11. Regina Negri Pagani & João Luiz Kovaleski & Luis Mauricio Resende, 2015. "Methodi Ordinatio: a proposed methodology to select and rank relevant scientific papers encompassing the impact factor, number of citation, and year of publication," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 105(3), pages 2109-2135, December.
    12. Vinkler, Péter, 2013. "Comparative rank assessment of journal articles," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 712-717.
    13. Bornmann, Lutz & Haunschild, Robin, 2016. "Citation score normalized by cited references (CSNCR): The introduction of a new citation impact indicator," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 875-887.
    14. Abramo, Giovanni & D’Angelo, Ciriaco Andrea & Rosati, Francesco, 2013. "The importance of accounting for the number of co-authors and their order when assessing research performance at the individual level in the life sciences," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 198-208.
    15. Marcello D’Agostino & Valentino Dardanoni & Roberto Ghiselli Ricci, 2017. "How to standardize (if you must)," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 113(2), pages 825-843, November.
    16. Elaine Aparecida Regiani Campos & Regina Negri Pagani & Luis Mauricio Resende & Joseane Pontes, 2018. "Construction and qualitative assessment of a bibliographic portfolio using the methodology Methodi Ordinatio," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(2), pages 815-842, August.
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    18. Lutz Bornmann & Werner Marx & Andreas Barth, 2013. "The Normalization of Citation Counts Based on Classification Systems," Publications, MDPI, vol. 1(2), pages 1-9, August.
    19. Waltman, Ludo, 2016. "A review of the literature on citation impact indicators," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 365-391.

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