A review of theory and practice in scientometrics

2015/01/31 by John Mingers, Loet Leydesdorff · 2 citations
Computer Science · Decision Sciences · #Bibliometrics #Citation #Citation analysis #Citation impact #Computer science #Data science #Library science #Research Data Management Practices #Scientometrics #Web visibility and informetrics #cs.DL #scientometrics and bibliometrics research

paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.ejor.2015.04.002

published as European Journal of Operational Research ,246, 1, pp. 1-19, 2015 · accepted for publication in the European Journal of Operational Research

arxiv created 2015/04/07 · openalex publication_date 2015/04/11 · arxiv updated 2016/04/25 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

Scientometrics is the study of the quantitative aspects of the process of science as a communication system. It is centrally, but not only, concerned with the analysis of citations in the academic literature. In recent years it has come to play a major role in the measurement and evaluation of research performance. In this review we consider: the historical development of scientometrics, sources of citation data, citation metrics and the "laws" of scientometrics, normalisation, journal impact factors and other journal metrics, visualising and mapping science, evaluation and policy, and future developments.

Citations

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• Global science and national comparisons: beyond bibliometrics and scientometrics