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Zero impact: a large-scale study of uncitedness

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  • Jeppe Nicolaisen

    (University of Copenhagen)

  • Tove Faber Frandsen

    (University of Southern Denmark)

Abstract

This paper presents a large-scale study of the phenomenon ‘uncitedness’. A literature review indicates that uncitedness is related to at least three factors: Field, document type, and time. To explore these factors and their mutual influence further, and at much larger scale than previous studies, the paper focuses on seven subject areas (arts and humanities; social sciences; computer science; mathematics; engineering; medicine; physics and astronomy), seven document types (articles; reviews; notes; letters; conference papers; books; book chapters), and a 20-year publication window (1996–2015). Documents are searched in Scopus, and retrieved year-by-year, discipline-by-discipline, and for each individual document type (total: 29,472,184 documents; 7,508,741 uncited documents). The results show great variance in uncitedness ratios between subject areas and document types. This is probably caused by a somewhat tacitly agreed upon genre hierarchy existing in all subject areas, yet with important local traits and differences. The importance of the time-dimension is documented. Time to first citation varies a great deal between subject areas, and the uncitedness ratio is consequently shown to be quite sensitive to the length of citation windows.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeppe Nicolaisen & Tove Faber Frandsen, 2019. "Zero impact: a large-scale study of uncitedness," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 119(2), pages 1227-1254, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:119:y:2019:i:2:d:10.1007_s11192-019-03064-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-019-03064-5
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. van Dalen, Hendrik Peter, 2021. "How the publish-or-perish principle divides a science: The case of economists," Other publications TiSEM a6a5a855-bb5a-4d52-a841-3, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    4. van Dalen, Hendrik Peter, 2020. "How the Publish-or-Perish Principle Divides a Science : The Case of Academic Economists," Discussion Paper 2020-020, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    5. Katchanov, Yurij L. & Markova, Yulia V. & Shmatko, Natalia A., 2023. "Uncited papers in the structure of scientific communication," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2).
    6. Tove Faber Frandsen & Jeppe Nicolaisen, 2023. "Defining the unscholarly publication: a bibliometric study of uncited and barely cited publications," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(2), pages 1337-1350, February.
    7. Kaile Gong, 2023. "The influence of discipline consistency between papers and published journals on citations: an analysis of Chinese papers in three social science disciplines," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(5), pages 3129-3146, May.
    8. Marcel Clermont & Johanna Krolak & Dirk Tunger, 2021. "Does the citation period have any effect on the informative value of selected citation indicators in research evaluations?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(2), pages 1019-1047, February.
    9. Rayanne Barros Setubal & Daniel Silva Farias & Clarice Casa Nova & Anna Carolina Fornero Aguiar & Tauany Aparecida Silva Santa Rosa Rodrigues & Rafael Teixeira Santos Lira & Anderson Luiz Vargas Ferre, 2022. "Microwave effect: analyzing citations from classic theories and their reinventions—a case study from a classic paper in aquatic ecology—Brooks & Dodson, 1965," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(8), pages 4751-4767, August.
    10. Hendrik P. Dalen, 2021. "How the publish-or-perish principle divides a science: the case of economists," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(2), pages 1675-1694, February.
    11. Soo Jeung Lee & Christian Schneijderberg & Yangson Kim & Isabel Steinhardt, 2021. "Have Academics’ Citation Patterns Changed in Response to the Rise of World University Rankings? A Test Using First-Citation Speeds," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-19, August.
    12. Besancenot, Damien & Vranceanu, Radu, 2024. "Reluctance to pursue breakthrough research: A signaling explanation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(4).
    13. Shaibu Mohammed & Anthony Morgan & Emmanuel Nyantakyi, 2020. "On the influence of uncited publications on a researcher’s h-index," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 122(3), pages 1791-1799, March.
    14. Dias, Luis C. & Lev, Benjamin & Anderson, James B., 2023. "Low cited articles in operations research / management science," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    15. Pablo Dorta-González & Rafael Suárez-Vega & María Isabel Dorta-González, 2020. "Open access effect on uncitedness: a large-scale study controlling by discipline, source type and visibility," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 124(3), pages 2619-2644, September.
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