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Relationship between downloads and citations at journal and paper levels, and the influence of language

Author

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  • Vicente P. Guerrero-Bote

    (Universidad de Extremadura)

  • Félix Moya-Anegón

    (Grupo Scimago, CSIC, CCHS, IPP)

Abstract

Download indicators are of major potential interest because the great quantity of readily available download data means that any statistical inferences drawn from them will be of robust significance. We study the relationship between citation and downloads at the journal and paper levels, and the influence of language on that relationship. The data used were taken from the Scopus (citations) and ScienceDirect (downloads) databases. The results showed that downloads have limited utility as predictors of citation since it is in the early years when any correlations have the least significance. The relationship between downloads and citation also differs from one discipline to another. The relationship at the paper level is considerably weaker than at the journal level. This may be indicative of the number of downloads depending largely on the diffusion of the journal. In francophone regions, downloading from journals is proportionately less than citations to those same journals. There seems to be a part of citations to non-English-language journals which is invisible to Scopus. This makes the number of downloads proportionately greater than that of citations, leading to a lack of correlation between downloads and citations in that class of journal.

Suggested Citation

  • Vicente P. Guerrero-Bote & Félix Moya-Anegón, 2014. "Relationship between downloads and citations at journal and paper levels, and the influence of language," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 101(2), pages 1043-1065, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:101:y:2014:i:2:d:10.1007_s11192-014-1243-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-014-1243-5
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    3. Chi, Yuxue & Tang, Xianyi & Liu, Yijun, 2022. "Exploring the “awakening effect” in knowledge diffusion: a case study of publications in the library and information science domain," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(4).
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    5. Barbara McGillivray & Mathias Astell, 2019. "The relationship between usage and citations in an open access mega-journal," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 121(2), pages 817-838, November.
    6. Martorell Cunil, Onofre & Otero González, Luis & Durán Santomil, Pablo & Mulet Forteza, Carlos, 2023. "How to accomplish a highly cited paper in the tourism, leisure and hospitality field," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    7. Cristina López-Duarte & Marta M. Vidal-Suárez & Belén González-Díaz, 2018. "The early adulthood of the Asia Pacific Journal of Management: A literature review 2005–2014," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 313-345, June.
    8. Carlos Vílchez-Román & Arístides Vara-Horna, 2021. "Usage, content and citation in open access publication: any interaction effects?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(12), pages 9457-9476, December.
    9. Anthony Breitzman, 2021. "The relationship between web usage and citation statistics for electronics and information technology articles," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(3), pages 2085-2105, March.
    10. Mingyang Wang & Zhenyu Wang & Guangsheng Chen, 2019. "Which can better predict the future success of articles? Bibliometric indices or alternative metrics," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 119(3), pages 1575-1595, June.
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