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A stochastic approach to the relation between the impact factor and the uncitedness factor

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  • Burrell, Quentin L.

Abstract

Empirical analysis of the relationship between the impact factor – as measured by the average number of citations – and the proportion of uncited material in a collection dates back at least to van Leeuwen and Moed (2005) where graphical presentations revealed striking patterns. Recently Hsu and Huang (2012) have proposed a simple functional relationship. Here it is shown that the general features of these observed regularities are predicted by a well-established informetric model which enables us to derive a theoretical van Leeuwen–Moed lower bound. We also question some of the arguments of Hsu and Huang (2012) and Egghe (2013) while various issues raised by Egghe (2008, 2013) are also addressed.

Suggested Citation

  • Burrell, Quentin L., 2013. "A stochastic approach to the relation between the impact factor and the uncitedness factor," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 676-682.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:infome:v:7:y:2013:i:3:p:676-682
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joi.2013.03.001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Leo Egghe, 2008. "The mathematical relation between the impact factor and the uncitedness factor," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 76(1), pages 117-123, July.
    2. Quentin L. Burrell, 2003. "Predicting future citation behavior," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 54(5), pages 372-378, March.
    3. Burrell, Quentin L., 2007. "Hirsch's h-index: A stochastic model," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 16-25.
    4. Thed N. van Leeuwen & Henk F. Moed, 2005. "Characteristics of journal impact factors: The effects of uncitedness and citation distribution on the understanding of journal impact factors," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 63(2), pages 357-371, April.
    5. Quentin L. Burrell, 1990. "Using the Gamma‐Poisson model to predict library circulations," Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 41(3), pages 164-170, April.
    6. L. Egghe, 2010. "The distribution of the uncitedness factor and its functional relation with the impact factor," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 83(3), pages 689-695, June.
    7. Quentin L. Burrell, 2012. "Alternative thoughts on uncitedness," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 63(7), pages 1466-1470, July.
    8. Quentin L. Burrell, 2002. "Will this paper ever be cited?," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 53(3), pages 232-235.
    9. Burrell, Quentin L., 2007. "On the h-index, the size of the Hirsch core and Jin's A-index," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 1(2), pages 170-177.
    10. Egghe, L., 2013. "The functional relation between the impact factor and the uncitedness factor revisited," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 183-189.
    11. Quentin L. Burrell, 2012. "Alternative thoughts on uncitedness," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 63(7), pages 1466-1470, July.
    12. Hsu, Jiann-wien & Huang, Ding-wei, 2012. "A scaling between Impact Factor and uncitedness," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 391(5), pages 2129-2134.
    13. Quentin L. Burrell, 2002. "The nth-citation distribution and obsolescence," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 53(3), pages 309-323, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Lucio Bertoli-Barsotti & Tommaso Lando, 2017. "The h-index as an almost-exact function of some basic statistics," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 113(2), pages 1209-1228, November.
    2. Katchanov, Yurij L. & Markova, Yulia V. & Shmatko, Natalia A., 2023. "Uncited papers in the structure of scientific communication," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2).
    3. Lucio Bertoli-Barsotti & Tommaso Lando, 2017. "A theoretical model of the relationship between the h-index and other simple citation indicators," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 111(3), pages 1415-1448, June.
    4. Jeppe Nicolaisen & Tove Faber Frandsen, 2019. "Zero impact: a large-scale study of uncitedness," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 119(2), pages 1227-1254, May.
    5. Hu, Zewen & Wu, Yishan, 2014. "Regularity in the time-dependent distribution of the percentage of never-cited papers: An empirical pilot study based on the six journals," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 136-146.
    6. Zewen Hu & Yishan Wu & Jianjun Sun, 2018. "A quantitative analysis of determinants of non-citation using a panel data model," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(2), pages 843-861, August.
    7. Pablo Dorta-González & Rafael Suárez-Vega & María Isabel Dorta-González, 2020. "Open access effect on uncitedness: a large-scale study controlling by discipline, source type and visibility," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 124(3), pages 2619-2644, September.
    8. Zewen Hu & Angela Lin & Peter Willett, 2019. "Identification of research communities in cited and uncited publications using a co-authorship network," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 118(1), pages 1-19, January.

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