IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/scient/v129y2024i1d10.1007_s11192-023-04849-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do two wrongs make a right? Measuring the effect of publications on science careers

Author

Listed:
  • Donna K. Ginther

    (University of Kansas
    National Bureau of Economic Research)

  • Carlos Zambrana

    (University of Kansas)

  • Patricia Oslund

    (University of Kansas)

  • Wan-Ying Chang

    (National Science Foundation)

Abstract

This paper examines whether publication data matched to the Survey of Doctorate Recipients can be used for research purposes. We use Gold Standard data created to validate the publication match quality and compare these measures to publications assigned by a machine-learning algorithm developed by Thomson Reuters (now Clarivate). Our econometric model demonstrates that publications likely suffer from non-classical measurement error. Using horse race and instrumental variable models, we confirm that the Gold Standard data are relatively free from measurement error but show that the Clarivate data suffer from non-classical measurement error. We employ a variety of methods to adjust the Clarivate data for false negatives and false positives and demonstrate that with these adjustments the data produce estimates very similar to the Gold Standard. However, these adjustments are not as useful when publications are used as a dependent variable. We recommend using subsamples of the data that have better match quality when using the Clarivate data as a dependent variable.

Suggested Citation

  • Donna K. Ginther & Carlos Zambrana & Patricia Oslund & Wan-Ying Chang, 2024. "Do two wrongs make a right? Measuring the effect of publications on science careers," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(1), pages 289-320, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:129:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s11192-023-04849-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-023-04849-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-023-04849-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11192-023-04849-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Measurement error; Publications; Science;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O3 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights
    • J4 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets
    • C26 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Instrumental Variables (IV) Estimation

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:129:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s11192-023-04849-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.