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The citation speed index: A useful bibliometric indicator to add to the h index

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  • Bornmann, Lutz
  • Daniel, Hans-Dieter

Abstract

The scientific impact of a publication can be determined not only based on the number of times it is cited but also based on the citation speed with which its content is noted by the scientific community. Here we present the citation speed index as a meaningful complement to the h index: whereas for the calculation of the h index the impact of publications is based on number of citations, for the calculation of the speed index it is the number of months that have elapsed since the first citation, the citation speed with which the results of publications find reception in the scientific community. The speed index is defined as follows: a group of papers has the index s if for s of its Np papers the first citation was at least s months ago, and for the other (Np−s) papers the first citation was ≤s months ago.

Suggested Citation

  • Bornmann, Lutz & Daniel, Hans-Dieter, 2010. "The citation speed index: A useful bibliometric indicator to add to the h index," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 4(3), pages 444-446.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:infome:v:4:y:2010:i:3:p:444-446
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joi.2010.03.007
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hendrik P. van Dalen & K?ne Henkens, 2005. "Signals in science - On the importance of signaling in gaining attention in science," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 64(2), pages 209-233, August.
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    4. Zhang, Lin & Thijs, Bart & Glänzel, Wolfgang, 2011. "The diffusion of H-related literature," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 583-593.
    5. Finardi, Ugo, 2014. "On the time evolution of received citations, in different scientific fields: An empirical study," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 13-24.
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    7. Egghe, L. & Bornmann, L. & Guns, R., 2011. "A proposal for a First-Citation-Speed-Index," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 181-186.
    8. L. Egghe, 2011. "Mathematical derivation of the scale-dependence of the h-index and other h-type indices," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 87(2), pages 287-292, May.
    9. Shahadat Uddin & Liaquat Hossain & Alireza Abbasi & Kim Rasmussen, 2012. "Trend and efficiency analysis of co-authorship network," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 90(2), pages 687-699, February.
    10. Nunkoo, Robin & Hall, C. Michael & Rughoobur-Seetah, Soujata & Teeroovengadum, Viraiyan, 2019. "Citation practices in tourism research: Toward a gender conscientious engagement," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    11. Chembessi Chedrak & Gohoungodji Paulin & Juste Rajaonson, 2023. "“A fine wine, better with age”: Circular economy historical roots and influential publications: A bibliometric analysis using Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RPYS)," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(6), pages 1593-1612, December.
    12. Christin Katharina Kreutz & Premtim Sahitaj & Ralf Schenkel, 2020. "Evaluating semantometrics from computer science publications," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 125(3), pages 2915-2954, December.
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