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Self-citation behavior within the health allied professions’ scientific sector in Italy: a bibliometric analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Stefano Vercelli

    (Institute of Veruno, IRCCS)

  • Leonardo Pellicciari

    (IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi)

  • Andrea Croci

    (Private Practice)

  • Cesare Maria Cornaggia

    (University of Milano Bicocca)

  • Francesca Cecchi

    (IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi
    University of Florence)

  • Daniele Piscitelli

    (University of Milano Bicocca
    McGill University
    University of Connecticut)

Abstract

National scientific qualification (NSQ) is a procedure to regulate access to Italian academic positions. An increased use of self-citations could favor the achievement of the minimum bibliometric requirements. The aim of this study was to retrospectively analyze the self-citing behavior of successful candidates who applied for the NSQ in the Allied Health Professions (AHP) scientific field. Bibliometric indexes of all candidates qualified in the three first sessions (2012, 2013, and 2016) were retrieved from the Scopus database. We developed a new index (ΔSCR) to detect changes in the candidate's habits based on the difference between the Self Citation Rate (SCR) in the year preceding NSQ and that of the previous 10 years. The Kruskal–Wallis test was used to analyze the ΔSCR between sessions. Multivariate regressions were run to investigate the relationship between ΔSCR and six independent factors. Differences in ΔSCR were found between 2012 and 2013 (p = 0.008), between 2013 and 2016 (p

Suggested Citation

  • Stefano Vercelli & Leonardo Pellicciari & Andrea Croci & Cesare Maria Cornaggia & Francesca Cecchi & Daniele Piscitelli, 2023. "Self-citation behavior within the health allied professions’ scientific sector in Italy: a bibliometric analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(2), pages 1205-1217, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:128:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s11192-022-04599-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-022-04599-w
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Erin Peebles & Marissa Scandlyn & Blair R Hesp, 2020. "A retrospective study investigating requests for self-citation during open peer review in a general medicine journal," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(8), pages 1-9, August.
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    3. Martin Szomszor & David A. Pendlebury & Jonathan Adams, 2020. "How much is too much? The difference between research influence and self-citation excess," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 123(2), pages 1119-1147, May.
    4. Richard Van Noorden & Dalmeet Singh Chawla, 2019. "Hundreds of extreme self-citing scientists revealed in new database," Nature, Nature, vol. 572(7771), pages 578-579, August.
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