Comments on: Citations and Critical Commentary http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2006/05/10/citations-and-critical-commentary/ Economics of organizations, strategy, entrepreneurship, innovation, and more Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:17:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=MU hourly 1 By: Thomas Mayer http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2006/05/10/citations-and-critical-commentary/#comment-61 Thomas Mayer Thu, 11 May 2006 19:20:52 +0000 https://organizationsandmarkets.wordpress.com/2006/05/10/citations-and-critical-commentary/#comment-61 One problem with reliance on the Citation Index is that it fosters conformity. A good way to increase your citatation count is to write on a topic that is currently much discussed. For the next few yars just about everyone writing on it will have to mention your paper. A related problem is that many (I suspect most) citations are just hat-tippers, e.g,. "this problem was also discussed by .Jones, Smith and ...." Serious users of theCittation Index should look at the citing papers and separate such hat-tippers from citations that indicate that the cited paper was of some use to the author o fthe citing paper. Also, a paper can be influential without being cited. It may point out a flaw in set of widely used models. As a result, these models are no longer being cited, and no more models of this type are being published. The likely result is no citations to the paper pointing out the flaw. Final;ly the Citation Index is sometimes inaccurate. Thomas Mayer One problem with reliance on the Citation Index is that it fosters conformity. A good way to increase your citatation count is to write on a topic that is currently much discussed. For the next few yars just about everyone writing on it will have to mention your paper.

A related problem is that many (I suspect most) citations are just hat-tippers, e.g,. “this problem was also discussed by .Jones, Smith and ….” Serious users of theCittation Index should look at the citing papers and separate such hat-tippers from citations that indicate that the cited paper was of some use to the author o fthe citing paper. Also, a paper can be influential without being cited. It may point out a flaw in set of widely used models. As a result, these models are no longer being cited, and no more models of this type are being published. The likely result is no citations to the paper pointing out the flaw. Final;ly the Citation Index is sometimes inaccurate.

Thomas Mayer

]]> By: Bo Nielsen http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2006/05/10/citations-and-critical-commentary/#comment-60 Bo Nielsen Thu, 11 May 2006 19:18:48 +0000 https://organizationsandmarkets.wordpress.com/2006/05/10/citations-and-critical-commentary/#comment-60 Just a quick remark about batting average - those of us who follow baseball here in the US will know about Barry Bonds and the controversy surrounding his power and homerun record.. I wonder when we will see the first stereoid-scandal in academia? (as long as coffee is not on the black list I should be safe...) Just a quick remark about batting average - those of us who follow baseball here in the US will know about Barry Bonds and the controversy surrounding his power and homerun record..

I wonder when we will see the first stereoid-scandal in academia? (as long as coffee is not on the black list I should be safe…)

]]> By: Tim Swanson http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2006/05/10/citations-and-critical-commentary/#comment-59 Tim Swanson Thu, 11 May 2006 02:03:08 +0000 https://organizationsandmarkets.wordpress.com/2006/05/10/citations-and-critical-commentary/#comment-59 I think one of the main problems with this phenomenon is that it is really no different than numerology. Despite good intentions, article and journal quality is by-in-large a subjective measurement and the Austrian critique's against positivism can be applied here as well. Just as a batting average and GDP are not holistic measurements for all aspects of a batter or economy, so to are many of the measurements used by bibliometrics. I think one of the main problems with this phenomenon is that it is really no different than numerology. Despite good intentions, article and journal quality is by-in-large a subjective measurement and the Austrian critique’s against positivism can be applied here as well. Just as a batting average and GDP are not holistic measurements for all aspects of a batter or economy, so to are many of the measurements used by bibliometrics.

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