Retrieval of very large numbers of items in the Web of Science: an exercise to develop accurate search strategies

The current communication presents a simple exercise with the aim of solving a singular problem: the retrieval of extremely large amounts of items in the Web of Science interface. As it is known, Web of Science interface allows a user to obtain at most 100,000 items from a single query. But what about queries that achieve a result of more than 100,000 items? The exercise developed one possible way to achieve this objective. The case study is the retrieval of the entire scientific production from the United States in a specific year. Different sections of items were retrieved using the field Source of the database. Then, a simple Boolean statement was created with the aim of eliminating overlapping and to improve the accuracy of the search strategy. The importance of team work in the development of advanced search strategies was noted

Are Citations to Academic Journal Articles a Measure of Quality or Something Else? An Exploratory Analysis with Emphasis on Design Science and IS Technical Research

One pervasive belief about scholarly citations that underlies several studies appearing in the IS literature is that the number ofcitations to a paper reflects the quality of the study. For example, a paper that receives 200 citations is perceived as havinghigher quality than another study that receives 50 citations. While most experts acknowledge that there are other factors thatdrive citations, such as the number of years a paper was available to be cited – or possibly “gaming” of citations by authorswho cite themselves frequently (author self-citations) or over-zealous editors who incent prospective authors to cite theirjournals (journal self-citations), there is an underlying assumption that, barring such unscrupulous behavior, citations are ameasure of research quality. This paper critically examines this assumption using a validated typology identifying 13 distinctsubject areas that characterize IS research. Results show that papers on some topics (e.g., IT adoption and use; newmeasurement development and validation) consistently receive more citations than average – while some topics consistentlyreceive below-average citation rates (e.g., IS development; IT project/risk management). Unless one assumes that all paperson a given topic are consistently of higher quality than all papers on other topics, our data suggest that a key driver ofcitations are the subject area of the study and, in turn, the size of the research community that conducts research on the topic

A Novel Approach for Estimating the Omitted-Citation Rate of Bibliometric Databases With an Application to the Field of Bibliometrics

One of the most significant inaccuracies of bibliometric databases is that of omitted citations, namely, missing electronic links between a paper of interest and some citing papers, which are (or should be) covered by the database. This paper proposes a novel approach for estimating a database’s omitted-citation rate, based on the combined use of 2 or more bibliometric databases. A statistical model is also presented for (a) estimating the “true” number of citations received by individual papers or sets of papers, and (b) defining an appropriate confidence interval. The proposed approach could represent a first step towards the definition of a standard for evaluating the accuracy level of databases

The need for end-user customization of the journal-sets of the subject categories in the Scimago Journal Ranking Database for more appropriate league lists. A case study for the library & information science field

The open access SCImago Journal & Country Rank (SJR) service -built from data in the subscription-based Elsevier ’s Scopus database- offers bibliographic information and bibliometric indicators for nearly 20,000 journals and other serial publications for 1996-2011. Journals are assigned to 300+ pre-defined subject categories and 26 broad subject areas to produce league lists. The set of 134 journals assigned to the Library and Information Sciences (LIS) subject category and a sample set of 50 other LIS journals, scattered across several other categories, were analyzed in the latest edition (SJR - 2011). Recommendations are made on how SJR could be enhanced by its developers to include simple customization options in the interface to facilitate a more efficient look-up and more valid comparison of the standing of journals and other serials and to reflect the prevailing preferences at the institutions where the rank positions in journal league lists are used to inform career advancement and funding decisions. It is argued that extending the current three-year citation window to five years would be more appropriate for all disciplines, and would also make SJR  comparable to metricsbased journal league lists produced from the open access Microsoft Academic Search  (MAS ), Google Scholar Metrics for Publications (GSMP ), and Eigenfactor.org (EF) data and the subscription-based Journal Citation Reports (JCR), which pioneered the idea of a metrics-based journal league list

Tracing paradigm shifts in information literacy: a progressive knowledge domain visualization approach

An information literate population is a fundamental component of modern society, but the definition of what it means to be information literate has changed over time, resulting in debates within the information literacy community. Through the lens of Thomas Kuhn's theory of scientific revolutions and Shneider's four stages of a discipline framework, this dissertation examines the progress of the information literacy research domain using both scientometric and content analysis methods. Three research questions are addressed in this study. First, the structural and temporal features of the information literacy knowledge domain are identified using document co-citation analysis to identify major research areas, landmark and hub documents, and active research topics. Second, pivotal papers connecting major research areas are explored using pathfinder network scaling algorithms to identify critical paths of transition in the domain. Finally, full-text pivotal documents are examined using qualitative content analysis to trace the progression of information literacy construct definitions in seminal research documents. Findings support a paradigm shift occurred in the domain when the skills-based information literacy definition was rejected in favor of a metaliteracy model. Technological advancement emerged as an influencing factor on paradigms, playing a major role in the domain's evolution over the past half-century. Information literacy research and instruction is built upon the framework used to define what it means to be information literate. Therefore, this study has practical implications for information literacy researchers, librarians, and students.Includes bibliographical references

An Assessment of Impact Metrics’ Potential as Research Indicators Based on Their Perception, Usage, and Dependencies from External Science Communication

The demand for practicable methods for quantitative assessments of scientific products’ relevance has risen considerably over the past decades. As a consequence, research and commercial providers of scholarly data developed a wide variety of impact indicators, ranging from citation-based to so-called altmetrics. This highly heterogeneous family of indicators is based on the principle of measuring interactions with scientific publications that are observable online, and covers for instance mentions of publications in social and journalistic media, in literature management software, or in policy documents. The various metrics' theoretical validity as impact indicators is debated constantly, as questions regarding what it is that different metrics measure or express in many facets remain unanswered. This thesis makes two central contributions towards answering these questions. Its first part systematically assesses the status quo of various metrics’ perception and usage by researchers. This assessment serves to determine the significance of metrics in academic daily routines, as well as to identify relevant perceived problems concerning their usage. The challenges identified this way are in later sections of the thesis opposed with concrete measures to be taken during the development of future research metrics and their infrastructure to effectively solve common criticisms regarding current metrics and their use. Proceeding from the first part’s user studies, this thesis’ second part examines the relationship between research metrics and external science communication. It this way addresses a wide research gap with considerable potential implications for metrics’ validity as indicators for quality - the question to which degree these metrics are merely the result of promotion, which respective research publications receive

Congress UPV Proceedings of the 21ST International Conference on Science and Technology Indicators

This is the book of proceedings of the 21st Science and Technology Indicators Conference that took place in València (Spain) from 14th to 16th of September 2016. The conference theme for this year, ‘Peripheries, frontiers and beyond’ aimed to study the development and use of Science, Technology and Innovation indicators in spaces that have not been the focus of current indicator development, for example, in the Global South, or the Social Sciences and Humanities. The exploration to the margins and beyond proposed by the theme has brought to the STI Conference an interesting array of new contributors from a variety of fields and geographies. This year’s conference had a record 382 registered participants from 40 different countries, including 23 European, 9 American, 4 Asia-Pacific, 4 Africa and Near East. About 26% of participants came from outside of Europe. There were also many participants (17%) from organisations outside academia including governments (8%), businesses (5%), foundations (2%) and international organisations (2%). This is particularly important in a field that is practice-oriented. The chapters of the proceedings attest to the breadth of issues discussed. Infrastructure, benchmarking and use of innovation indicators, societal impact and mission oriented-research, mobility and careers, social sciences and the humanities, participation and culture, gender, and altmetrics, among others. We hope that the diversity of this Conference has fostered productive dialogues and synergistic ideas and made a contribution, small as it may be, to the development and use of indicators that, being more inclusive, will foster a more inclusive and fair world