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An analysis of top author citations in software engineering and a comparison with other fields

Author

Listed:
  • Kai Petersen

    (University of Applied Sciences
    Blekinge Institute of Technology)

  • Nauman Bin Ali

    (Blekinge Institute of Technology)

Abstract

Ioannidis et al. provided a science-wide database of author citations. The data offers an opportunity to researchers in a field to compare the citation behavior of their field with others. In this paper, we conduct a systematic analysis of citations describing the situation in software engineering and compare it with the fields included in the data provided by Ioannidis et al. For comparison, we take the measures used by Ioannidis into consideration. We also report the top-scientists and investigate software engineering researchers’ activities in other fields. The data was obtained and provided by Ioannidis et al. based on the Scopus database. Our method for analysis focuses on descriptive statistics. We compared software engineering with other fields and reported demographic information for the top authors. The analysis was done without any modifications to the ranking. In the later analysis, we observed that 37% of researchers listed as software engineers were not in the software engineering field. On the other hand, the database included a large portion of top authors (ca. 60% to 80%) identified in other software engineering rankings. Other fields using the database are advised to review the author lists for their fields. Our research’s main risk was that researchers are listed that do not belong to our studied field.

Suggested Citation

  • Kai Petersen & Nauman Bin Ali, 2021. "An analysis of top author citations in software engineering and a comparison with other fields," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(11), pages 9147-9183, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:126:y:2021:i:11:d:10.1007_s11192-021-04144-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-021-04144-1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jefferson Seide Molléri & Kai Petersen & Emilia Mendes, 2018. "Towards understanding the relation between citations and research quality in software engineering studies," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 117(3), pages 1453-1478, December.
    2. Christophe Croux & Catherine Dehon, 2010. "Influence functions of the Spearman and Kendall correlation measures," Statistical Methods & Applications, Springer;Società Italiana di Statistica, vol. 19(4), pages 497-515, November.
    3. John P A Ioannidis & Kevin W Boyack & Jeroen Baas, 2020. "Updated science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(10), pages 1-3, October.
    4. Hagen, Nils T., 2014. "Counting and comparing publication output with and without equalizing and inflationary bias," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 310-317.
    5. Vahid Garousi & João M. Fernandes, 2017. "Quantity versus impact of software engineering papers: a quantitative study," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 112(2), pages 963-1006, August.
    6. João M. Fernandes, 2014. "Authorship trends in software engineering," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 101(1), pages 257-271, October.
    7. João M. Fernandes & Miguel P. Monteiro, 2017. "Evolution in the number of authors of computer science publications," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 110(2), pages 529-539, February.
    8. David A. Pendlebury & Jonathan Adams, 2012. "Comments on a critique of the Thomson Reuters journal impact factor," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 92(2), pages 395-401, August.
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