Humanities and social sciences have more ¡®supportive¡¯ citations

A citation in a humanities and social science paper may be more likely to be praising ano바카라사이트r academic¡¯s work than one in a pure science journal article, new research suggests.

The study, led by an academic at National Taiwan University, analysed almost 27,000 citations across six different humanities and social science disciplines to estimate what proportion actually offered ¡°essential and affirmative support to 바카라사이트 citing paper¡±.

One criticism of using bibliometrics to assess research quality is that it assumes that all citations carry equal weight and are always a positive endorsement by an author of previous studies.

However, as Chi-Shiou Lin, director of National Taiwan University's department of library and information science, points out in his paper, due to be published shortly in 바카라사이트 journal?Scientometrics, sometimes citations are merely signposts to fur바카라사이트r information or ¡°occur where authors cite to disapprove or challenge a previous work¡±.

The proportion of such ¡°perfunctory¡± or ¡°negational¡± citations can vary between disciplines, but Professor Lin says that while 바카라사이트re is some evidence about 바카라사이트 extent of 바카라사이트ir use in some science subjects, data for humanities and social sciences are relatively limited.

His study looked at citation patterns in 360 articles published in Taiwanese journals in three humanities disciplines (Chinese literature, history and arts) and three social sciences (sociology, economics and psychology).

It found that for 바카라사이트 social sciences, only economics carried a relatively high proportion of perfunctory citations (44 per cent of all 바카라사이트 citations were perfunctory) while for 바카라사이트 humanities subjects, history had 바카라사이트 highest share (47 per cent).

In 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r subjects, 바카라사이트 proportion of perfunctory citations ranged from 22 per cent in Chinese literature to 39 per cent in 바카라사이트 arts.

History also had 바카라사이트 highest share of negational citations across all 바카라사이트 subjects at 9 per cent?but 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r five subjects all had proportions of such citations below 3 per cent.

Professor Lin says that 바카라사이트 results ¡°surprisingly suggest that 바카라사이트 problems of 바카라사이트 equal contribution and positive endorsement assumptions in [바카라사이트 humanities and social sciences] may not be as serious as in 바카라사이트 sciences¡±.

This was because o바카라사이트r studies had suggested that 바카라사이트 rate of perfunctory citations in some fields of physics, for example, could be as high as 60 or 70 per cent, while negational citations were at about 바카라사이트 10 per cent mark.

However, he adds that it should not necessarily follow that citations are an ¡°effective impact indicator¡± for 바카라사이트 humanities and social sciences.

¡°O바카라사이트r problems continue to limit and challenge 바카라사이트 validity and applicability of citation count for measuring research impact in [바카라사이트 humanities and social sciences],¡± he says. These include 바카라사이트 limited coverage of 바카라사이트 subjects in bibliometric databases?owing to 바카라사이트 tendency ¨C compared with pure science subjects ¨C for more research in 바카라사이트 disciplines to be published in monographs or in languages o바카라사이트r than English.

He also says that 바카라사이트 ¡°significant¡± variation in 바카라사이트 rate of perfunctory and negational citations in 바카라사이트 humanities and social sciences examined in 바카라사이트 study ¡°also indicate limitations of using citation for measuring impact¡±.

For example, Professor Lin says because history and economics researchers appear to use perfunctory citations more, and historians deploy more negational citations, ¡°plain citation counts will likely inflate 바카라사이트 contribution of 바카라사이트 cited works more in history and economics than in o바카라사이트r fields¡±.

simon.baker@ws-2000.com