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The Role of Citations in Warwick’s Strategy and Improving Them. Nicola Owen (Academic Registrar) Professor Mark Smith (PVC Research: Science and Medicine). Introduction. What are citations ? Citation indices & impact factors ISI Highly Cited Researchers Why improve citations ?
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The Role of Citations in Warwick’s Strategy and Improving Them Nicola Owen (Academic Registrar) Professor Mark Smith (PVC Research: Science and Medicine)
Introduction • What are citations ? • Citation indices & impact factors • ISI Highly Cited Researchers • Why improve citations ? • How do we improve citations ?
What are Citations ? • A citation is a reference to a book, article or web page or other published item that can be uniquely identified. • Citations are used in scholarly works to give credit to or acknowledge the influence of previous works. • Thomson ISI, part of Thomson-Reuters Corp. is the World’s leading bibliometric data compiler. ISI created by Eugene Garfield
Citation Indices • SCI – Science Citation Index • SSCI – Social Science Citation Index • AHCI - Arts and Humanities Citation Index
Impact Factor E.g. Journal impact factor for 2003…. A = the number of times articles published in 2001-2 were cited in indexed journals during 2003 B = the number of "citable items" (usually articles, reviews, letters, proceedings or notes; not usually editorials, comments and letters-to-the-Editor) published in 2001-2 2003 impact factor = A/B
Consider impact by field Economics Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Consider impact by field • We have seen that citation rates and impact vary by field and sub-field of research • We must set citations metrics in context • Citations less relevant in the arts and humanities
Highly Cited Researchers • Thomson ISIHighlyCited.com • 21 broad subject categories in life sciences, medicine, physical sciences, engineering and social sciences. • Individuals listed are the most highly cited within each category for the period 1981-1999, comprise less than 0.5 % of all publishing researchers - an extraordinary accomplishment. • Does not include the arts & humanities • Universities recognised as the best in the World have many HiCi researchers
Nobel Laureates… Eugene Garfield on Nobel Laureates… • they publish five times the average number of papers • 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 !
[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 Where Are We Now – Highly Cited? Comparative positions include (SJTU rankings in brackets): [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
Citation impact for Institutions in 5 year overlapping periods
Young institution? Young medical school? Culture of playing safe? Insufficient international networks? Lack of awareness Publishing cultures? Some disciplines and sub-disciplines cite more than others. Why might this be?
Strategically: Boost research quality by regular benchmarking to world, rather than UK, standards. Reputation (underselling ourselves) international esteem THES World Rankings citations per faculty (20%) Future funding Research Assessment of Science, Technology, Engineering & Medicine (STEM) subjects from 2009 (likely to be weighted 30%) Why are we doing this?
Primary focus on research quality across Warwick (i.e. not just a science/social science issue) Citations is one measure – draw up measures in discipline context Need to start measuring What’s your own h-index? What do Warwick academics publish each year? What can we do?
How do we improve citations ? • Attempt to publish in top journals for the field or sub-field of research • Don’t take the comfortable option of submitting articles first to middle ranking journals • Be prepared to face rejection • Achieve maximum publicity for your research • Ensure that the correct address is used !
Supporting early career staff Taking risks Mentoring Identifying journals/publishers Co-editing Networking Open access publishing? (Southampton experience) What can we do? (cont.)