IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/scient/v109y2016i2d10.1007_s11192-016-2093-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Usage patterns of scholarly articles on Web of Science: a study on Web of Science usage count

Author

Listed:
  • Xianwen Wang

    (Dalian University of Technology)

  • Zhichao Fang

    (Dalian University of Technology)

  • Xiaoling Sun

    (Dalian University of Technology)

Abstract

Usage data of scholarly articles provide a direct way to explore the usage preferences of users. Using the “Usage Count” provided by the Web of Science platform, we collect and analyze the usage data of five journals in the field of Information Science and Library Science, to investigate the usage patterns of scholarly articles on Web of Science. Our analysis finds that the distribution of usage fits a power law. And according to the time distribution of usage, researchers prefer to use more recent papers. As to those old papers, citations play an important role in determining the usage count. Highly cited old papers are more likely to be used even a long time after publication.

Suggested Citation

  • Xianwen Wang & Zhichao Fang & Xiaoling Sun, 2016. "Usage patterns of scholarly articles on Web of Science: a study on Web of Science usage count," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 109(2), pages 917-926, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:109:y:2016:i:2:d:10.1007_s11192-016-2093-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-016-2093-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-016-2093-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11192-016-2093-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wang, Xianwen & Xu, Shenmeng & Peng, Lian & Wang, Zhi & Wang, Chuanli & Zhang, Chunbo & Wang, Xianbing, 2012. "Exploring scientists’ working timetable: Do scientists often work overtime?," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 655-660.
    2. Henk F. Moed, 2005. "Statistical relationships between downloads and citations at the level of individual documents within a single journal," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 56(10), pages 1088-1097, August.
    3. Wang, Xianwen & Wang, Zhi & Mao, Wenli & Liu, Chen, 2014. "How far does scientific community look back?," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 562-568.
    4. Christian Schloegl & Juan Gorraiz, 2011. "Global usage versus global citation metrics: The case of pharmacology journals," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 62(1), pages 161-170, January.
    5. Tai‐Quan Peng & Jonathan J.H. Zhu, 2012. "Where you publish matters most: A multilevel analysis of factors affecting citations of internet studies," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 63(9), pages 1789-1803, September.
    6. Christian Schloegl & Juan Gorraiz, 2010. "Comparison of citation and usage indicators: the case of oncology journals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 82(3), pages 567-580, March.
    7. Christian Schloegl & Juan Gorraiz, 2011. "Global usage versus global citation metrics: The case of pharmacology journals," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 62(1), pages 161-170, January.
    8. Wolfgang Glänzel & Juan Gorraiz, 2015. "Usage metrics versus altmetrics: confusing terminology?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 102(3), pages 2161-2164, March.
    9. Christian Schlögl & Juan Gorraiz & Christian Gumpenberger & Kris Jack & Peter Kraker, 2014. "Comparison of downloads, citations and readership data for two information systems journals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 101(2), pages 1113-1128, November.
    10. Leo Egghe & Ronald Rousseau, 2000. "Aging, obsolescence, impact, growth, and utilization: Definitions and relations," Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 51(11), pages 1004-1017.
    11. Tim Brody & Stevan Harnad & Leslie Carr, 2006. "Earlier Web usage statistics as predictors of later citation impact," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 57(8), pages 1060-1072, June.
    12. Philip M. Davis & Leah R. Solla, 2003. "An IP‐level analysis of usage statistics for electronic journals in chemistry: Making inferences about user behavior," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 54(11), pages 1062-1068, September.
    13. Jin-kun Wan & Ping-huan Hua & Ronald Rousseau & Xiu-kun Sun, 2010. "The journal download immediacy index (DII): experiences using a Chinese full-text database," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 82(3), pages 555-566, March.
    14. Philip M. Davis & Jason S. Price, 2006. "eJournal interface can influence usage statistics: Implications for libraries, publishers, and Project COUNTER," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 57(9), pages 1243-1248, July.
    15. Tai-Quan Peng & Jonathan J.H. Zhu, 2012. "Where you publish matters most: A multilevel analysis of factors affecting citations of internet studies," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 63(9), pages 1789-1803, September.
    16. Wang, Xianwen & Peng, Lian & Zhang, Chunbo & Xu, Shenmeng & Wang, Zhi & Wang, Chuanli & Wang, Xianbing, 2013. "Exploring scientists’ working timetable: A global survey," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 665-675.
    17. Juan Gorraiz & Christian Gumpenberger & Christian Schlögl, 2014. "Usage versus citation behaviours in four subject areas," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 101(2), pages 1077-1095, November.
    18. Youngim Jung & Jayhoon Kim & Minho So & Hwanmin Kim, 2015. "Statistical relationships between journal use and research output at academic institutions in South Korea," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 103(3), pages 751-777, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bikun Chen, 2018. "Usage pattern comparison of the same scholarly articles between Web of Science (WoS) and Springer," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 115(1), pages 519-537, April.
    2. Yufeng Duan & Zequan Xiong, 2017. "Download patterns of journal papers and their influencing factors," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 112(3), pages 1761-1775, September.
    3. Bikun Chen & Dannan Deng & Zhouyan Zhong & Chengzhi Zhang, 2020. "Exploring linguistic characteristics of highly browsed and downloaded academic articles," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 122(3), pages 1769-1790, March.
    4. Muhammad Salman Khan & Muhammad Younas, 2017. "Analyzing readers behavior in downloading articles from IEEE digital library: a study of two selected journals in the field of education," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 110(3), pages 1523-1537, March.
    5. Zhichao Fang & Rodrigo Costas, 2020. "Studying the accumulation velocity of altmetric data tracked by Altmetric.com," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 123(2), pages 1077-1101, May.
    6. 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.
    7. Liwen Vaughan & Juan Tang & Rongbin Yang, 2017. "Investigating disciplinary differences in the relationships between citations and downloads," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 111(3), pages 1533-1545, June.
    8. Juan Gorraiz & Christian Gumpenberger & Christian Schlögl, 2014. "Usage versus citation behaviours in four subject areas," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 101(2), pages 1077-1095, November.
    9. Wencan Tian & Yongzhen Wang & Zhigang Hu & Ruonan Cai & Guangyao Zhang & Xianwen Wang, 2024. "Does Granger causality exist between article usage and publication counts? A topic-level time-series evidence from IEEE Xplore," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(6), pages 3285-3302, June.
    10. Christian Schlögl & Juan Gorraiz & Christian Gumpenberger & Kris Jack & Peter Kraker, 2014. "Comparison of downloads, citations and readership data for two information systems journals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 101(2), pages 1113-1128, November.
    11. Wolfgang Glänzel & Juan Gorraiz, 2015. "Usage metrics versus altmetrics: confusing terminology?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 102(3), pages 2161-2164, March.
    12. 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.
    13. Xianwen Wang & Wenli Mao & Shenmeng Xu & Chunbo Zhang, 2014. "Usage history of scientific literature: Nature metrics and metrics of Nature publications," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 98(3), pages 1923-1933, March.
    14. Khan, Abdullah & Rizvi, Syed Aun R. & Ali, Mohsin & Haroon, Omair, 2021. "A survey of Islamic finance research – Influences and influencers," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    15. 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.
    16. Wood-Doughty, Alex & Bergstrom, Ted & Steigerwald, Douglas, 2017. "Do download reports reliably measure journal usage? Trusting the fox to count your Hens?," University of California at Santa Barbara, Economics Working Paper Series qt1f221007, Department of Economics, UC Santa Barbara.
    17. Guangyao Zhang & Yuqi Wang & Weixi Xie & Han Du & Chunlin Jiang & Xianwen Wang, 2021. "The open access usage advantage: a temporal and spatial analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(7), pages 6187-6199, July.
    18. Xianwen Wang & Chen Liu & Wenli Mao & Zhichao Fang, 2015. "The open access advantage considering citation, article usage and social media attention," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 103(2), pages 555-564, May.
    19. Wang, Xianwen & Wang, Zhi & Mao, Wenli & Liu, Chen, 2014. "How far does scientific community look back?," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 562-568.
    20. Yezhu Wang & Yundong Xie & Dong Wang & Lu Guo & Rongting Zhou, 2022. "Do cover papers get better citations and usage counts? An analysis of 42 journals in cell biology," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(7), pages 3793-3813, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:109:y:2016:i:2:d:10.1007_s11192-016-2093-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.