IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/scient/v51y2001i1d10.1023_a1010549719484.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Language biases in the coverage of the Science Citation Index and its consequencesfor international comparisons of national research performance

Author

Listed:
  • Thed N. Van Leeuwen

    (Leiden University)

  • Henk F. Moed

    (Leiden University)

  • Robert J. W. Tijssen

    (Leiden University)

  • Martijn S. Visser

    (Leiden University)

  • Anthony F. J. Van Raan

    (Leiden University)

Abstract

Empirical evidence presented in this paper shows that the utmost care must be taken ininterpreting bibliometric data in a comparative evaluation of national research systems. From theresults of recent studies, the authors conclude that the value of impact indicators of researchactivities at the level of an institution or a country strongly depend upon whether one includes orexcludes research publications in SCI covered journals written in other languages than in English.Additional material was gathered to show the distribution of SCI papers among publicationlanguages. Finally, the authors make suggestions for further research on how to deal with this typeof problems in future national research performance studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Thed N. Van Leeuwen & Henk F. Moed & Robert J. W. Tijssen & Martijn S. Visser & Anthony F. J. Van Raan, 2001. "Language biases in the coverage of the Science Citation Index and its consequencesfor international comparisons of national research performance," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 51(1), pages 335-346, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:51:y:2001:i:1:d:10.1023_a:1010549719484
    DOI: 10.1023/A:1010549719484
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1023/A:1010549719484
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1023/A:1010549719484?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Th N van Leeuwen & H F Moed & R J W Tijssen & M S Visser & A F J van Raan, 2000. "First evidence of serious language-bias in the use of citation analysis for the evaluation of national science systems," Research Evaluation, Oxford University Press, vol. 9(2), pages 155-156, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Henk F. Moed, 2002. "Measuring China"s research performance using the Science Citation Index," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 53(3), pages 281-296, March.
    2. Li, Jiang & Qiao, Lili & Li, Wenyuze & Jin, Yidan, 2014. "Chinese-language articles are not biased in citations: Evidences from Chinese-English bilingual journals in Scopus and Web of Science," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(4), pages 912-916.
    3. repec:hig:journl:v:6:y:2012:i:1:p:38-58 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Bar-Ilan, Judit, 2008. "Informetrics at the beginning of the 21st century—A review," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 1-52.
    5. Maxim N. Kotsemir & Tatiana E. Kuznetsova & Elena G. Nasybulina & Anna G. Pikalova, 2015. "Empirical Analysis of Multinational S&T Collaboration Priorities –The Case of Russia," HSE Working papers WP BRP 53/STI/2015, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    6. Shengli Ren & Ronald Rousseau, 2002. "International visibility of Chinese scientific journals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 53(3), pages 389-405, March.
    7. Cavalieri, Marina & Mangano, Alfia, 2009. "La valutazione della didattica e della ricerca medica: esperienze a confronto [Evaluation of medical teaching and research: a comparative analysis]," MPRA Paper 16095, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Maxim Kotsemir, 2012. "Dynamics of Russian and World Science through the Prism of International Publications," Foresight and STI Governance (Foresight-Russia till No. 3/2015), National Research University Higher School of Economics, vol. 6(1), pages 38-58.
    9. Mike Thelwall & Rong Tang, 2003. "Disciplinary and linguistic considerations for academic Web linking: An exploratory hyperlink mediated study with Mainland China and Taiwan," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 58(1), pages 155-181, September.
    10. Liming Liang & Ronald Rousseau & Zhen Zhong, 2013. "Non-English journals and papers in physics and chemistry: bias in citations?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 95(1), pages 333-350, April.
    11. Grant Lewison & Valentina Markusova, 2011. "Female researchers in Russia: have they become more visible?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 89(1), pages 139-152, October.
    12. Leydesdorff, Loet & Wagner, Caroline S. & Bornmann, Lutz, 2014. "The European Union, China, and the United States in the top-1% and top-10% layers of most-frequently cited publications: Competition and collaborations," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 606-617.

    More about this item

    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:51:y:2001:i:1:d:10.1023_a:1010549719484. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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.