Trends in journal prices: an analysis of selected journals, 2000-2006

This paper presents summary results from an analysis of the institutional subscription prices for journals in biomedical and social sciences, for a selection of eleven publishers. Overall price, price per page and price per point of impact factor have been examined between 2000 and 2006. Considerable variation was found between publishers both in their overall levels of price and in the rates of increase observed over the period. There is some evidence that not-for- profit publishers may, on average, offer better value for money in terms of price per page and price per point of impact factor, but this is far from conclusive

The place of serials in referencing practices: Comparing natural sciences and engineering with social sciences and humanities

Journal articles constitute the core documents for the diffusion of knowledge in the natural sciences. It has been argued that the same is not true for the social sciences and humanities where knowledge is more often disseminated in monographs that are not indexed in the journal-based databases used for bibliometric analysis. Previous studies have made only partial assessments of the role played by both serials and other types of literature. The importance of journal literature in the various scientific fields has therefore not been systematically characterized. The authors address this issue by providing a systematic measurement of the role played by journal literature in the building of knowledge in both the natural sciences and engineering and the social sciences and humanities. Using citation data from the CD-ROM versions of the Science Citation Index (SCI), Social Science Citation Index (SSCI), and Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI) databases from 1981 to 2000 (Thomson ISI, Philadelphia, PA), the authors quantify the share of citations to both serials and other types of literature. Variations in time and between fields are also analyzed. The results show that journal literature is increasingly important in the natural and social sciences, but that its role in the humanities is stagnant and has even tended to diminish slightly in the 1990s.\ud Journal literature accounts for less than 50% of the citations in several disciplines of the social sciences and humanities; hence, special care should be used when using bibliometric indicators that rely only on journal literature

Comparative Investigation of Self-Citation Patterns in Information Science: A Pilot Study

This study is an exploratory investigation into the citation patterns in the field of Information Retrieval. Preliminary findings are based on a comparison of self-citation rates in JASIST, a leading journal in Information Retrieval, and a journal in an unrelated field. Although the sample size is small, the preliminary results suggest that there may be irregularities in the self-citation rates among Information Retrieval authors. The exploratory study found that self-citation rate in JASIST is nearly three times that of a journal in an unrelated field. Further study with a more robust sample is warranted to confirm the findings herein and to shed light on the motivations for self-citations.ye

Sketching Research in Education through Academic Journals (In French)

This contribution aims at coming up with serious grounds for an evaluation of French research published in scientific journals in the field of Education Science. A reliable method consists in criss-crossing the various databases which play an authoritative part – those of the ISI (Institute for Scientific Information) and others -, in listing the titles of journals they retrieve, and in asking the scientific community what its position is. Hence the scientificity of a journal: a journal is scientific when considered as such by the scientists of its community. In this contribution, a case study is built in Education Science. Some major journals are studied and some conclusions raised.Educational Research, Evaluation, France, Psychology, Sociology, Sociology of Science, Scientific Journals, Scientometrics

Los investigadores sociales de Uruguay: perfil y comportamiento de producción

La investigación en Ciencias Sociales (CCSS) en Uruguay se aborda a partir de los currículum vitae de los 260 investigadores que están categorizados en el Sistema Nacional de Investigadores, durante el mes de agosto de 2014. Se caracterizael perfil socio-demográfico de este colectivo y su comportamiento de publicación en el período 2004-2013. Se encuentra que están distribuidos en forma pareja por sexo, el 71% está afiliado a la Universidad de la República, 3/5 son doctores y 1/3 magisters. Respecto a los productos de la investigación se vehiculizan a través de diversos tipos de publicaciones, con un predominio avasallante del idioma español y una alta proporción publicada en el país. La revisión de literatura evidencia que los científicos sociales presentan ciertas características en el modelo de comunicación de sus investigaciones que los distancian de sus colegas de otros campos científicos, entre otras razones por las temáticas que abordan. La bibliografía también alerta sobre la heterogeneidad del espacio conformado por las CCSS, por el comportamiento singular de las disciplinas que lo integran. Esta comunicación toma las publicaciones de acuerdo al tipo de documento y se las analiza en virtud de las subáreas temáticas en que cada investigador encuadra su labor. Se aplica la metodología estadística de componentes principales y se obtiene una medida de síntesis que expresa el comportamiento de publicación de cada investigador. Se encuentra que este comportamiento no parece estar relacionado a la subárea de actuación.Mesa 3: Métricas de información científica y tecnológicaDepartamento de Bibliotecologí

Los investigadores sociales de Uruguay: perfil y comportamiento de producción

La investigación en Ciencias Sociales (CCSS) en Uruguay se aborda a partir de los currículum vitae de los 260 investigadores que están categorizados en el Sistema Nacional de Investigadores, durante el mes de agosto de 2014. Se caracterizael perfil socio-demográfico de este colectivo y su comportamiento de publicación en el período 2004-2013. Se encuentra que están distribuidos en forma pareja por sexo, el 71% está afiliado a la Universidad de la República, 3/5 son doctores y 1/3 magisters. Respecto a los productos de la investigación se vehiculizan a través de diversos tipos de publicaciones, con un predominio avasallante del idioma español y una alta proporción publicada en el país. La revisión de literatura evidencia que los científicos sociales presentan ciertas características en el modelo de comunicación de sus investigaciones que los distancian de sus colegas de otros campos científicos, entre otras razones por las temáticas que abordan. La bibliografía también alerta sobre la heterogeneidad del espacio conformado por las CCSS, por el comportamiento singular de las disciplinas que lo integran. Esta comunicación toma las publicaciones de acuerdo al tipo de documento y se las analiza en virtud de las subáreas temáticas en que cada investigador encuadra su labor. Se aplica la metodología estadística de componentes principales y se obtiene una medida de síntesis que expresa el comportamiento de publicación de cada investigador. Se encuentra que este comportamiento no parece estar relacionado a la subárea de actuación.Mesa 3: Métricas de información científica y tecnológicaDepartamento de Bibliotecologí

A bibliometric view on the internationalization of European educational research

Is there a trend towards internationalization of educational research in Europe? Educational research is said to follow a tradition of nationally oriented studies and interventions supported by a national publication culture. Publications are a suitable source of empirical analysis of research output, as they reflect results, emergence and impact of research. This study focuses on publication based bibliometric indicators, which represent measurable characteristics of international orientation of research publications and which can be surveyed in time course. Being aware that the Web of Science (WoS) databases cover a crucial but rather limited proportion of the worldwide educational research output, this study provides bibliometric insights into the development of national publication outputs in educational research in the WoS and what idiosyncrasies are revealed for European countries, into the role of English as a publication language, into the trend towards transnational co-authorship as an indicator of international cooperation, and into citation frequencies as a measurement of research communication or research impact. (DIPF/Orig.

En klassiker - død eller levende?

Hans Henrik Bruun: A Classic – Dead or Alive? What Use is Max Weber today? This article, based on the author’s Inaugural Lecture, discusses two related questions. The first question is how to deal with the great classics of sociology. And the second is to what extent Max Weber – arguably the greatest sociological classic of them all – is still relevant today. As for the study of sociological classics, it is important to keep the original context of their ideas firmly in mind, in order to avoid the dangers of misunderstanding, misattribution and banalization. The analysis of the place in contemporary sociology of Weber’s core methodological concepts of value freedom, objectivity and the ideal type, as well as his Protestantism thesis, concludes that, to a significant extent, they have now fallen prey to one or more of these dangers. On the other hand, Weber’s ideas continue to fascinate because of the exceptional lack of closure of his thought, and, more generally, because his approach reflects, with paradigmatic clarity, the tension between intentionality and necessity inherent in social action. Moreover, Weber’s insistence that scholars be passionate in their pursuit of and respect for truth, however uncomfortable the results of their endeavours, remains a durable ethical legacy to the discipline of sociology