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Ranking scientists and departments in a consistent manner

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  • Denis Bouyssou

    (LAMSADE - Laboratoire d'analyse et modélisation de systèmes pour l'aide à la décision - Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Thierry Marchant

    (Department of Data Analysis - UGENT - Universiteit Gent = Ghent University = Université de Gand)

Abstract

The standard data that we use when computing bibliometric rankings of scientists are just their publication/citation records, i.e., so many papers with 0 citation, so many with 1 citation, so many with 2 citations, etc. The standard data for bibliometric rankings of departments have the same structure. It is therefore tempting (and many authors gave in to temptation) to use the same method for computing rankings of scientists and rankings of departments. Depending on the method, this can yield quite surprising and unpleasant results. Indeed, with some methods, it may happen that the "best" department contains the "worst" scientists, and only them. This problem will not occur if the rankings satisfy a property called consistency, recently introduced in the literature. In this paper, we explore the consequences of consistency and we characterize two families of consistent rankings.

Suggested Citation

  • Denis Bouyssou & Thierry Marchant, 2011. "Ranking scientists and departments in a consistent manner," Post-Print hal-00606931, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00606931
    DOI: 10.1002/asi.21544
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-00606931v1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. van Eck, Nees Jan & Waltman, Ludo, 2008. "Generalizing the h- and g-indices," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 2(4), pages 263-271.
    2. Kinnucan, Henry W. & Traxler, Greg, 1994. "Ranking Agricultural Economics Departments By Ajae Page Counts: A Reappraisal," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 23(2), pages 1-6, October.
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    4. Bouyssou, Denis & Marchant, Thierry, 2011. "Bibliometric rankings of journals based on Impact Factors: An axiomatic approach," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 75-86.
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    Keywords

    ranking scientists; ranking departments; consistence; Bibliometrics; ranking of scientists; ranking of departments;
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