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Assessing obliteration by incorporation in a full-text database: JSTOR, Economics, and the concept of “bounded rationality”

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  • Katherine W. McCain

    (Drexel University)

Abstract

To evaluate the usefulness of a full-text database as a source for assessing obliteration by incorporation (OBI), 3,707 article records including the catchphrases “bounded rationality” and/or “boundedly rational” (connected with the work of H. A. Simon) in the article text were retrieved from JSTOR, a full-text database with broad disciplinary coverage. Two subsets were analyzed—a 10 % systematic sample of all records and a set of all articles in Economics journals (with the addition of the Journal of Economic Theory). A majority of articles in the 10 % sample came from Economics and Management journals, while Psychology was poorly represented. In the 10 % sample, based on the percentage of true implicit citations between 1992 and 2009 in the 80 % of records that had a catchphrase in the body of the article, rather than just in the reference list, annual OBI ranged from 0 to 70 % (mean 33 %) with no discernible trend. The Economics articles showed a narrower range of OBI—fluctuating around 40 % implicit citations over the same time period. In both data sets, a large proportion of indirect citations were to sources that themselves cited a relevant work by Simon. Over 90 % of the articles in both the 10 % sample and the economics journal set would not have been retrieved with a database record search because they lacked the catchphrase in the record fields.

Suggested Citation

  • Katherine W. McCain, 2014. "Assessing obliteration by incorporation in a full-text database: JSTOR, Economics, and the concept of “bounded rationality”," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 101(2), pages 1445-1459, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:101:y:2014:i:2:d:10.1007_s11192-014-1237-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-014-1237-3
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    References listed on IDEAS

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