The Role of Citations in Warwick’sStrategy and Improving Them
Nicola Owen (Academic Registrar)
Professor Mark Smith (PVC Research:Science and Medicine)
IntroductionIntroduction
What are citations ?
Citation indices & impact factors
ISI Highly Cited Researchers
Why improve citations ?
How do we improve citations ?
What are Citations ?What are Citations ?
A citation is a reference to a book, article orweb page or other published item that can beuniquely identified.
Citations are used in scholarly works to givecredit to or acknowledge the influence ofprevious works.
Thomson ISI, part of Thomson-Reuters Corp.is the World’s leading bibliometric datacompiler. ISI created by Eugene Garfield
Citation IndicesCitation Indices
SCI – Science Citation Index
SSCI – Social Science Citation Index
AHCI - Arts and Humanities Citation Index
Impact FactorImpact Factor
E.g. Journal impact factor for 2003….
A = the number of times articles published in 2001-2were cited in indexed journals during 2003
B = the number of "citable items" (usually articles,reviews, letters, proceedings or notes; not usuallyeditorials, comments and letters-to-the-Editor)published in 2001-2
2003 impact factor = A/B
The highest cited journalsThe highest cited journals
Consider impact by fieldConsider impact by field
Economics
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Consider impact by fieldConsider impact by field
We have seen that citation rates and impact varyby field and sub-field of research
We must set citations metrics in context
Citations less relevant in the arts and humanities
Highly Cited ResearchersHighly Cited Researchers
Thomson ISIHighlyCited.com
21 broad subject categories in life sciences,medicine, physical sciences, engineering and socialsciences.
Individuals listed are the most highly cited withineach category for the period 1981-1999, compriseless than 0.5 % of all publishing researchers - anextraordinary accomplishment.
Does not include the arts & humanities
Universities recognised as the best in the Worldhave many HiCi researchers
Nobel Laureates…Nobel Laureates…
Eugene Garfield on Nobel Laureates…
they publish five times the average number ofpapers
their work is cited 30 to 50 times the average
they will invariably publish several Citation
Classics
most have high h-Indexes
many also appear on ISI’s HighlyCited index
We can’t all be Nobel Laureates though !
Where Are We Now – Highly Cited?
[2] Cambridge University = 49
[10] Oxford University = 40
[23] Imperial College = 29
[26] UCL = 23
[62] Bristol = 16
[50] Manchester = 14
[90] Birmingham = 7
[246] Warwick = 5
[1] Harvard University = 80
[3] Stanford University = 93
[4] UC Berkley = 82
[5] MIT = 74
[8] Princeton University = 60
[11] Yale University = 34
[12] Cornell University = 51
[85] Brown University =15
Comparative positions include (SJTU rankings inbrackets):
Citation impact for Institutions in 5 yearoverlapping periodsCitation impact for Institutions in 5 yearoverlapping periods
Why might this be?
•Young institution?
•Young medical school?
•Culture of playing safe?
•Insufficient international networks?
•Lack of awareness
•Publishing cultures?
•Some disciplines and sub-disciplines cite morethan others.
Why are we doing this?
•Strategically:
Boost research quality by regular benchmarkingto world, rather than UK, standards.
•Reputation (underselling ourselves) internationalesteem
THES World Rankings citations per faculty (20%)
•Future funding
–Research Assessment of Science, Technology,Engineering & Medicine (STEM) subjects from2009 (likely to be weighted 30%)
What can we do?
•Primary focus on research quality across Warwick(i.e. not just a science/social science issue)
•Citations is one measure – draw up measures indiscipline context
•Need to start measuring
–What’s your own h-index?
–What do Warwick academics publish each year?
How do we improve citations ?How do we improve citations ?
Attempt to publish in top journals for the field orsub-field of research
Don’t take the comfortable option of submittingarticles first to middle ranking journals
Be prepared to face rejection
Achieve maximum publicity for your research
Ensure that the correct address is used !
What can we do? (cont.)
•Supporting early career staff
–Taking risks
–Mentoring
–Identifying journals/publishers
–Co-editing
–Networking
•Open access publishing? (Southamptonexperience)