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An Empirical Approach to Compare the Performance of Heterogeneous Academic Fields

Author

Listed:
  • Cinzia Daraio

    (Department of Computer, Control and Management Engineering, Universita' degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza")

  • Giancarlo Ruocco

    (Department of Computer, Control and Management Engineering, Universita' degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza")

Abstract

In this paper we propose a ìscaling-basedî empirical approach to assess the scientific performance of heterogeneous academic disciplines. It relies on the idea that if we take into account for their two main sources of heterogeneity, the bibliometric distributions of different academic fields can be superimposed and collapse to a unique master curve by a single scaling parameter. By using data on the scientific production of around 2,500 scholars of the university of Rome ìLa Sapienzaî from the Web of Science (WoS) over 2004ñ2008 we i) demonstrate the existence of a master curve; ii) determine the scaling factors which are the cornerstone to compare different academic fields; and iii) show that the master bibliometric distribution follows a Log-normal law.

Suggested Citation

  • Cinzia Daraio & Giancarlo Ruocco, 2012. "An Empirical Approach to Compare the Performance of Heterogeneous Academic Fields," DIAG Technical Reports 2012-03, Department of Computer, Control and Management Engineering, Universita' degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza".
    • Handle: RePEc:aeg:report:2012-03
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Keywords

    Research assessment; Normalization; Scaling; Universality; Italian Universities;
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