Bibliometrics
Bibliometrics is the quantitative analysis of published literature, focusing on various performance metrics of academic and professional writings, such as journal articles and books. It examines factors like citation counts, which measure how often a work is referenced by others, and the H-index, reflecting both an author's productivity and the impact of their publications. Originating in the late 1960s, the concept has evolved to include any written communication and is closely related to infometrics, which encompasses broader information analysis across various media.
Bibliometrics serves multiple purposes, including guiding research funding decisions and enhancing the credentials of authors within academic and professional contexts. By employing methods such as field-weighted citations, bibliometrics helps institutions determine the value of particular journals and books for their collections. The increasing integration of bibliometric analysis with advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence and data science, has further expanded its application in identifying research opportunities and assessing the influence of studies. Overall, bibliometrics plays a crucial role in shaping academic discourse and institutional investments in literature.
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Bibliometrics
Bibliometrics refers to the scientific analysis of the impact of published writing, such as journal articles and books. This analysis looks at different aspects of the writing’s performance, including how many people have read an article or how many other articles have cited that work as a source. Bibliometrics can also be used to find other data about written works, such as how many articles a particular author, company, or research team has published. The information gathered influences such aspects as research funding and the credentials of the author.
Overview
The term bibliometrics originated in 1969. It was coined by British librarian Alan Pritchard in a paper titled “Statistical Bibliography or Bibliometrics?” That same year, Russian philosopher Vasiliy Vasilievich Nalimov and coauthor Z.M. Mul’chenko wrote a book on scientometrics in which they used the term naukometriya, which translates to “bibliometrics.”
The term is generally associated with Pritchard because he applied it more broadly to all forms of written communication. Nalimov and Mul’chenko applied it only to scientific communications. In the twenty-first century, the term refers to the analysis of any type of written communication.
Bibliometrics is related to the field of infometrics, which is the statistical analysis of information from any media source, including electronic data. Both fields can trace their origins to the 1920s, when experts began looking at which published scientific articles had been quoted or cited most often. They published these citation studies to help universities and libraries determine which journals were the best to buy as reference sources.
Bibliometrics uses a number of different methods to analyze and measure the effectiveness of articles written for academic, scientific, or professional purposes. Examples of these include articles written by an English professor who writes an article about the influence of politics on language or by a businessman who writes about using incentives to improve employee performance. These articles are published in journals related to their fields.
The quality of these articles is often judged by peer review, when experts in the same field evaluate the articles prior to publication. Bibliometrics applies a broader range of criteria to this review. Bibliometric measures include the following:
- Counting citations, or how often the article or book appears as a source in other articles or books.
- Field-weighted citations, or how many citations the item received relative to others in the same field and type of publication within the same year.
- H-index, or the number of citations the item’s author has published and the number of citations the work has received.
- Other measures include reviewing how often the item is cited in the top industry publications and comparing how many citations it receives in specific journals versus the average number of citations for all articles in that magazine over a period of time.
Bibliometrics is important for authors and those for whom they write, such as universities or research labs. The statistics can become part of the author’s resume and credentials, helping build the author’s reputation and establish their expertise. Funding for hospitals, research facilities, universities, and other institutions is often determined at least partly by the influence those writing for the organizations have had. Bibliometrics are also used for the original purpose, to help determine what journals and books to buy for libraries and other institutions. From 2000 to 2023, there was a continual increase in the bibliometric articles published in various journals. Many professionals began using bibliometrics with other analytical methods, like artificial intelligence, social media, and data science, to find research opportunities and evaluate the impact of research.
Bibliography
"Bibliometric Analysis and Visualization." University of Illinois, 11 Apr. 2024, researchguides.uic.edu/bibliometrics. Accessed 20 Oct. 2024.
“Bibliometric Basics.” University College London, www.ucl.ac.uk/library/research-support-open-science/bibliometrics/bibliometrics-basics. Accessed 20 Oct. 2024.
“Bibliometrics and Citation Analysis: About This Guide.” University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries, researchguides.library.wisc.edu/bibliometrics. Accessed 20 Oct. 2024.
“Bibliometrics and Research Impact.” University of Pittsburgh Library, library.pitt.edu/bibliometrics-and-research-impact. Accessed 20 Oct. 2024.
Cheng, Kunming, et al. “The Rapid Growth of Bibliometric Studies: A Call for International Guidelines.” International Journal of sSurgery (London, England), vol. 110, no. 4, 2024, pp. 2446-48, doi:10.1097/JS9.0000000000001049. Accessed 20 Oct. 2024.
Kent, Allen, editor. Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, vol. 70, no. 33, CRC Press, 2001.
Pritchard, Michael. “Alan Pritchard Obituary.” Guardian, 25 Sept. 2015, www.theguardian.com/books/2015/sep/28/alan-pritchard-obituary. Accessed 20 Oct. 2024.
“Research Analytics.” University of Leeds, library.leeds.ac.uk/info/1406/researcher‗support/17/measuring‗research‗impact. Accessed 20 Oct. 2024.
“Using Bibliometrics: A Guide to Evaluating Research Performance with Citation Data.” Thomson Reuters, openscience.ens.fr/MARIE‗FARGE/CONFERENCES/2014‗12‗02‗BIBLIOMETRIE‗ET‗EVALUATION‗DE‗LA‗RECHERCHE‗ABDU‗PARIS/InCites‗Thomson-Reuters.pdf. Accessed 20 Oct. 2024.