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The correlation between paper length and citations: a meta-analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Juan Xie

    (Nanjing University)

  • Kaile Gong

    (Nanjing University)

  • Ying Cheng

    (Nanjing University)

  • Qing Ke

    (Nanjing University)

Abstract

Citation count is a widely used bibliometric indicator. It is influenced by many factors, some of which have been well investigated. This study investigated a more controversial relationship between paper length and citations. After systematic retrieval and selection of literature, we performed a random effects meta-analysis in which 24 effect sizes in 18 original studies were synthesized. The dataset included 1,548,088 papers. Meta-regression and subgroup analysis were used to identify factors moderating the correlation between paper length and citations. Tests of heterogeneity and publication bias were conducted to guarantee reliability, and statistical analysis via computer simulation was used to interpret the results of the heterogeneity test. We observed a moderate, positive correlation between paper length and citations (r = 0.310) from the dataset, and hence concluded that the longer a paper is, the more citations it receives. Citation windows and the perceived quality of journals were found to exert a moderating influence on the correlation.

Suggested Citation

  • Juan Xie & Kaile Gong & Ying Cheng & Qing Ke, 2019. "The correlation between paper length and citations: a meta-analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 118(3), pages 763-786, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:118:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-019-03015-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-019-03015-0
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    Cited by:

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    2. Sorana D Bolboacă & Diana-Victoria Buhai & Maria Aluaș & Adriana E Bulboacă, 2019. "Post retraction citations among manuscripts reporting a radiology-imaging diagnostic method," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(6), pages 1-14, June.
    3. Syed Hasan & Robert Breunig, 2021. "Article length and citation outcomes," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(9), pages 7583-7608, September.
    4. Kaile Gong, 2023. "The influence of discipline consistency between papers and published journals on citations: an analysis of Chinese papers in three social science disciplines," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(5), pages 3129-3146, May.
    5. Eitan Frachtenberg, 2022. "Multifactor Citation Analysis over Five Years: A Case Study of SIGMETRICS Papers," Publications, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-16, December.
    6. Hongquan Shen & Juan Xie & Jiang Li & Ying Cheng, 2021. "The correlation between scientific collaboration and citation count at the paper level: a meta-analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(4), pages 3443-3470, April.
    7. Pislyakov, Vladimir, 2022. "On some properties of medians, percentiles, baselines, and thresholds in empirical bibliometric analysis," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(4).

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