IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/scient/v94y2013i1d10.1007_s11192-012-0738-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Document categories in the ISI Web of Knowledge: Misunderstanding the Social Sciences?

Author

Listed:
  • Anne-Wil Harzing

    (University of Melbourne)

Abstract

Thomson Reuter’s ISI Web of Knowledge (or ISI for short) is used in the majority of benchmarking analyses and bibliometric research projects. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the limitations of data provided by ISI. This article deals with a limitation that disproportionally affects the Social Sciences: ISI’s misclassification of journal articles containing original research into the “review” or “proceedings paper” category. I report on a comprehensive, 11 year analysis, of document categories for 27 journals in nine Social Science and Science disciplines. I show that although ISI’s “proceedings paper” and “review” classifications seem to work fairly well in the Sciences, they illustrate a profound misunderstanding of research and publication practices in the Social Sciences.

Suggested Citation

  • Anne-Wil Harzing, 2013. "Document categories in the ISI Web of Knowledge: Misunderstanding the Social Sciences?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 94(1), pages 23-34, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:94:y:2013:i:1:d:10.1007_s11192-012-0738-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-012-0738-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-012-0738-1
    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/s11192-012-0738-1?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. Juan Miguel Campanario & Jesús Carretero & Vera Marangon & Antonio Molina & Germán Ros, 2011. "Effect on the journal impact factor of the number and document type of citing records: a wide-scale study," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 87(1), pages 75-84, April.
    2. M. R. Davarpanah & S. Aslekia, 2008. "A scientometric analysis of international LIS journals: Productivity and characteristics," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 77(1), pages 21-39, October.
    3. Sujin Choi, 2012. "Core-periphery, new clusters, or rising stars?: international scientific collaboration among ‘advanced’ countries in the era of globalization," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 90(1), pages 25-41, January.
    4. Anne Sigogneau, 2000. "An Analysis of Document Types Published in Journals Related to Physics: Proceeding Papers Recorded in the Science Citation Index Database," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 47(3), pages 589-604, March.
    5. Jung Cheol Shin & Soo Jeung Lee & Yangson Kim, 2012. "Knowledge-based innovation and collaboration: a triple-helix approach in Saudi Arabia," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 90(1), pages 311-326, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alexander Schniedermann, 2021. "A comparison of systematic reviews and guideline-based systematic reviews in medical studies," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(12), pages 9829-9846, December.
    2. Miranda, Ruben & Garcia-Carpintero, Esther, 2018. "Overcitation and overrepresentation of review papers in the most cited papers," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 1015-1030.
    3. Paul Donner, 2017. "Document type assignment accuracy in the journal citation index data of Web of Science," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 113(1), pages 219-236, October.
    4. David I Stern, 2014. "High-Ranked Social Science Journal Articles Can Be Identified from Early Citation Information," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(11), pages 1-11, November.
    5. Xie, Yundong & Wu, Qiang & Zhang, Peng & Li, Xingchen, 2020. "Information Science and Library Science (IS-LS) journal subject categorisation and comparison based on editorship information," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 14(4).
    6. Anne-Wil Harzing, 2015. "Health warning: might contain multiple personalities—the problem of homonyms in Thomson Reuters Essential Science Indicators," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 105(3), pages 2259-2270, December.
    7. 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.
    8. Haunschild, Robin & Bornmann, Lutz, 2016. "Normalization of Mendeley reader counts for impact assessment," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 62-73.
    9. Thed Leeuwen & Rodrigo Costas & Clara Calero-Medina & Martijn Visser, 2013. "The role of editorial material in bibliometric research performance assessments," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 95(2), pages 817-828, May.
    10. T. Gorjiara & C. Baldock, 2014. "Nanoscience and nanotechnology research publications: a comparison between Australia and the rest of the world," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 100(1), pages 121-148, July.
    11. Sánchez-Gil, Susana & Gorraiz, Juan & Melero-Fuentes, David, 2018. "Reference density trends in the major disciplines," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 42-58.
    12. Franceschini, Fiorenzo & Maisano, Domenico & Mastrogiacomo, Luca, 2016. "The museum of errors/horrors in Scopus," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 174-182.
    13. Olesia Iefremova & Kamil Wais & Marcin Kozak, 2018. "Biographical articles in scientific literature: analysis of articles indexed in Web of Science," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 117(3), pages 1695-1719, December.
    14. Clemens Blümel & Alexander Schniedermann, 2020. "Studying review articles in scientometrics and beyond: a research agenda," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 124(1), pages 711-728, July.
    15. Barrios, Maite & Guilera, Georgina & Gómez-Benito, Juana, 2013. "Impact and structural features of meta-analytical studies, standard articles and reviews in psychology: Similarities and differences," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 478-486.
    16. Abramo, Giovanni & D’Angelo, Ciriaco Andrea, 2015. "The relationship between the number of authors of a publication, its citations and the impact factor of the publishing journal: Evidence from Italy," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 746-761.
    17. Waltman, Ludo, 2016. "A review of the literature on citation impact indicators," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 365-391.
    18. Mu-hsuan Huang & Wang-Ching Shaw & Chi-Shiou Lin, 2019. "One category, two communities: subfield differences in “Information Science and Library Science” in Journal Citation Reports," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 119(2), pages 1059-1079, May.
    19. Sándor Soós & Zsófia Vida & András Schubert, 2018. "Long-term trends in the multidisciplinarity of some typical natural and social sciences, and its implications on the SSH versus STM distinction," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 114(3), pages 795-822, March.
    20. Tomaz Bartol & Gordana Budimir & Doris Dekleva-Smrekar & Miro Pusnik & Primoz Juznic, 2014. "Assessment of research fields in Scopus and Web of Science in the view of national research evaluation in Slovenia," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 98(2), pages 1491-1504, February.
    21. Carolin Michels & Jun-Ying Fu, 2014. "Systematic analysis of coverage and usage of conference proceedings in web of science," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 100(2), pages 307-327, August.

    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. Thed Leeuwen & Rodrigo Costas & Clara Calero-Medina & Martijn Visser, 2013. "The role of editorial material in bibliometric research performance assessments," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 95(2), pages 817-828, May.
    2. Hou, Jianhua & Yang, Xiucai, 2020. "Social media-based sleeping beauties: Defining, identifying and features," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 14(2).
    3. Yangson Kim & Hee Jin Lim & Soo Jeung Lee, 2014. "Applying research collaboration as a new way of measuring research performance in Korean universities," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 99(1), pages 97-115, April.
    4. Daniel Torres-Salinas & Nicolás Robinson-García & Álvaro Cabezas-Clavijo & Evaristo Jiménez-Contreras, 2014. "Analyzing the citation characteristics of books: edited books, book series and publisher types in the book citation index," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 98(3), pages 2113-2127, March.
    5. Jerome K. Vanclay, 2012. "Impact factor: outdated artefact or stepping-stone to journal certification?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 92(2), pages 211-238, August.
    6. Tao Zhuang & Zhixia Zhou & Qingjun Li, 2021. "University‐industry‐government triple helix relationship and regional innovation efficiency in China," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(1), pages 349-370, March.
    7. Yu-Wei Chang, 2014. "Exploring scientific articles contributed by industries in Taiwan," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 99(2), pages 599-613, May.
    8. Noriko Yoda & Kenichi Kuwashima, 2020. "Triple Helix of University–Industry–Government Relations in Japan: Transitions of Collaborations and Interactions," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 11(3), pages 1120-1144, September.
    9. Nan Zhang & Shanshan Wan & Peiling Wang & Peng Zhang & Qiang Wu, 2018. "A bibliometric analysis of highly cited papers in the field of Economics and Business based on the Essential Science Indicators database," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(2), pages 1039-1053, August.
    10. Jungwon Yoon & Joshua SungWoo Yang & Han Woo Park, 2017. "Quintuple helix structure of Sino-Korean research collaboration in science," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 113(1), pages 61-81, October.
    11. Fei-Cheng Ma & Peng-Hui Lyu & Qiang Yao & Lan Yao & Shi-Jing Zhang, 2014. "Publication trends and knowledge maps of global translational medicine research," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 98(1), pages 221-246, January.
    12. Chung Joo Chung, 2014. "An analysis of the status of the Triple Helix and university–industry–government relationships in Asia," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 99(1), pages 139-149, April.
    13. Graf, Holger & Kalthaus, Martin, 2018. "International research networks: Determinants of country embeddedness," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(7), pages 1198-1214.
    14. Maki Kato & Asao Ando, 2013. "The relationship between research performance and international collaboration in chemistry," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 97(3), pages 535-553, December.
    15. Kostoff, Ronald N., 2008. "Comparison of China/USA science and technology performance," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 2(4), pages 354-363.
    16. Arianna Petrosino & Daniela Mancini & Stefano Garzella & Rita Lamboglia, 2018. "La Business Intelligence e la Business Analytics nell?era dei Big Data: una analisi della letteratura," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2018(3), pages 31-58.
    17. Waltman, Ludo, 2016. "A review of the literature on citation impact indicators," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 365-391.
    18. Concepta McManus & Abilio Afonso Baeta Neves & Andrea Queiroz Maranhão & Antonio Gomes Souza Filho & Jaime Martins Santana, 2020. "International collaboration in Brazilian science: financing and impact," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 125(3), pages 2745-2772, December.
    19. Carolin Michels & Jun-Ying Fu, 2014. "Systematic analysis of coverage and usage of conference proceedings in web of science," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 100(2), pages 307-327, August.
    20. Paul Donner, 2017. "Document type assignment accuracy in the journal citation index data of Web of Science," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 113(1), pages 219-236, October.

    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:94:y:2013:i:1:d:10.1007_s11192-012-0738-1. 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.