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Using ISI's 'Highly Cited Researchers' to obtain a country level indicator of citation excellence

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  • Aparna Basu

    (Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, located at TCGA)

Abstract

Summary A high level of citation to an author's work is, in general, a testimony to the fact that the author's work has been noted and used by his peers. High citation is seen to be correlated with other forms of recognition and rewards, and is a key indicator of research performance, among other bibliometric indicators. The Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) defines a 'highly cited researcher' (HCR) as one of 250 most cited authors of journal papers in any discipline. Citation data for 20 years (1981-1999) is used to calculate the share of HCRs for countries in 21 subject areas. We find that the US dominates in all subject areas (US share ~ 40-90%). Based on the number of highly cited researchers in a country, an index of citation excellence is proposed. We find that rank order of countries based on this index is in conformity with our general understanding of research excellence, whereas the more frequently used indicator, citations per paper, gave an unacceptable rank order due to an inherent bias toward very small countries. Additionally, a high value of the index of citation excellence was found to be associated with higher concentration of highly cited researchers in affiliating organizations.

Suggested Citation

  • Aparna Basu, 2006. "Using ISI's 'Highly Cited Researchers' to obtain a country level indicator of citation excellence," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 68(3), pages 361-375, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:68:y:2006:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-006-0117-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-006-0117-x
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Domingo Docampo & Lawrence Cram, 2019. "Highly cited researchers: a moving target," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 118(3), pages 1011-1025, March.
    2. John N. Parker & Christopher Lortie & Stefano Allesina, 2010. "Characterizing a scientific elite: the social characteristics of the most highly cited scientists in environmental science and ecology," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 85(1), pages 129-143, October.
    3. Wentian Shi & Debin Du & Wenlong Yang, 2019. "The Flow Network of Chinese Scientists and Its Driving Mechanisms Based on the Spatial Development Path of CAS and CAE Academicians," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-22, October.
    4. Amalia Más-Bleda & Isidro F. Aguillo, 2013. "Can a personal website be useful as an information source to assess individual scientists? The case of European highly cited researchers," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 96(1), pages 51-67, July.
    5. Albayrak-Aydemir, Nihan & Gleibs, Ilka Helene, 2023. "A social-psychological examination of academic precarity as an organizational practice and subjective experience," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 117269, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Nobuko Miyairi & Han-Wen Chang, 2012. "Bibliometric characteristics of highly cited papers from Taiwan, 2000–2009," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 92(1), pages 197-205, July.
    7. M. D. Ribeiro & S. M. R. Vasconcelos, 2018. "Retractions covered by Retraction Watch in the 2013–2015 period: prevalence for the most productive countries," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 114(2), pages 719-734, February.
    8. John N. Parker & Stefano Allesina & Christopher J. Lortie, 2013. "Characterizing a scientific elite (B): publication and citation patterns of the most highly cited scientists in environmental science and ecology," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 94(2), pages 469-480, February.
    9. Raquel Carrasco & Javier Ruiz-Castillo, 2019. "Spatial mobility in elite academic institutions in economics: the case of Spain," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 10(2), pages 141-172, June.
    10. Nabil Amara & Réjean Landry & Norrin Halilem, 2015. "What can university administrators do to increase the publication and citation scores of their faculty members?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 103(2), pages 489-530, May.
    11. A. Basu & P. Foland & G. Holdridge & R. D. Shelton, 2018. "China’s rising leadership in science and technology: quantitative and qualitative indicators," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 117(1), pages 249-269, October.
    12. Yun Liu & Mengya Zhang & Gupeng Zhang & Xiongxiong You, 2022. "Scientific elites versus other scientists: who are better at taking advantage of the research collaboration network?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(6), pages 3145-3166, June.
    13. Pedro Albarrán & Raquel Carrasco & Javier Ruiz-Castillo, 2017. "Geographic mobility and research productivity in a selection of top world economics departments," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 111(1), pages 241-265, April.

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