ABS: Bordons, Evaluation of scientific activity through bibliometric indicators

[Gretchen Whitney]

Author's e-mail: mbordons at cindoc.csic.es

TITLE   :       Evaluation of scientific activity through bibliometric
indicators
AUTHOR   Bordons M, Zulueta MA
JOURNAL REVISTA ESPANOLA DE CARDIOLOGIA
                            52: (10) 790-800 OCT 1999

 Document type: Article    Language: Spanish    Cited References: 30
Times Cited: 0


Abstract:
The scope of bibliometric studies is the treatment and quantitative analysis
of scientific publications. They belong to the so-called
"social studies of science", and science policy constitutes one of its main
applied fields. These studies efficiently complement the
opinions and judgements of experts, thus providing objective and useful
tools for evaluating the results of scientific activity.

Nevertheless, given the impact that these evaluations have on the assignment
of funding for research and even on the professional
career of investigators, it becomes essential to know in detail the
characteristics of bibliometric indicators and the limitations of
their use.

The Science Citation Index database is one of the most employed. In the case
of biomedical research it is useful to analyze the
most internationally visible scientific production, since it satisfactorily
covers biomedical journals; however, clinical research with
local interest published in Spanish journals is not included in that
database.

Widely employed bibliometric indicators are those measuring scientific
activity through the number of publications, those based on
the citations received by published studies and, in between them, the impact
of journals. The impact factor is an indicator very
used in bibliometric studies; though occasionally a high impact factor is
assumed to reflect high quality, this indicator specifically
measures visibility and diffusion of the works published by these journals
rather than their scientific quality.

Author Keywords:
bibliometric, biomedicine

KeyWords Plus:
SCIENCE-CITATION-INDEX, BASIC RESEARCH, BIOMEDICINE

Addresses:
Bordons M, CSIC, Ctr Informac & Documentac Cient, Joaquin Costa 22, Madrid
28002, Spain.
CSIC, Ctr Informac & Documentac Cient, Madrid 28002, Spain.
Univ Alcala de Henares, Fac Documentac, Madrid, Spain.

Publisher:
EDICIONES DOYMA S/A, BARCELONA

IDS Number:
247FD

ISSN:
0300-8932


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