West R, McIlwaine A "What do citation counts count for in the field of addiction? An empirical evaluation of citation counts and their link with peer ratings of quality" ADDICTION 97 (5): 501-504 MAY 2002

[Eugene Garfield]

E-mail : Robert West : sgjt600 at sghms.ac.uk

Title What do citation counts count for in the field of addiction? An
empirical  evaluation of citation counts and their link with peer ratings of
quality
Author West R, McIlwaine A
Journal ADDICTION   97 (5): 501-504 MAY 2002

Document type: Article   Language: English
Cited References: 21     Times Cited: 0


Abstract:
Aims This study investigated the value of citation counts as an index of
quality in the field of addiction and examined factors that contribute to
papers being cited more or less frequently.

Design The number of times papers published by the journal Addiction in
1995-98 that had been cited up to May 2000 were counted using the Science
and the Social Science Citation Indexes. Articles in nine of the monthly
issues from 1997 were rated by two independent expert raters for quality.
Factors related to citation counts were also examined including: country of
origin of the paper, substance type, solicited versus unsolicited papers and
methodology used.

Findings A total of 417 unsolicited research reports were included in the
citation analysis, of which 79 were also subjected to quality ratings. The
experts showed a moderate level of agreement in their ratings (intraclass
correlation = 0.39, p < 0.001). However, there was no correlation between
number of citations and expert ratings of article quality (R < 0.1). Papers
from developing countries received significantly fewer citations than papers
from other countries but substance type (e.g.
nicotine. opiate. alcohol) and methodology (e.g. survey, treatment trial)
were not related to number of citations.

Conclusions This study involved just one journal but raised an important
issue: the number of citations received by papers on addiction appears to
reflect the geographical region of study rather than what experts would
consider as 'quality'. If these findings are found to generalize they call
into question the use of citation-related indices as measures of quality in
this field and perhaps in others as well. To our knowledge our methodology
has not been used before and could be adapted to study the value of
citations more widely.

Author Keywords:
addiction, citations, research

KeyWords Plus:
INDEX IMPACT FACTOR, BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS, PSYCHIATRIC JOURNALS, MEDICAL
JOURNALS, PUBLICATIONS, BIAS

Addresses:
West R, Univ London St Georges Hosp, Sch Med, Dept Psychol, Cranmer Terrace,
London SW17 0RE, England
Univ London St Georges Hosp, Sch Med, Dept Psychol, London SW17 0RE, England
Univ Coll London, London, England

Publisher:
CARFAX PUBLISHING, BASINGSTOKE

IDS Number:
548UW

ISSN:
0965-2140

 Cited Author            Cited Work                Volume      Page
Year

 BARNABY DP            ANN EMERG MED                 31        78      1998
 FASSOULAKI A          BRIT J ANAESTH                84       266      2000
 GALLAGHER EJ          ANN EMERG MED                 31        83      1998
 GARFIELD E            ANN INTERN MED               105       313      1986
 GRANGE RI             BJU INT                       84       601      1999
 GUNN AJ               NEW ZEAL MED J               112       351      1999
 HANSEN HB             CLIN PHYSIOL                  16       507      1996
 HANSSON S             LANCET                       346       906      1995
 HECHT F               CANCER GENET CYTOGEN         104        77      1998
 HOWARD L              BRIT J PSYCHIAT              172       457      1998
 HOWARD L              BRIT J PSYCHIAT              170       109      1997
 JONES AW              ALCOHOL ALCOHOLISM            34        25      1999
 LINARDI PM            BRAZ J MED BIOL RES           29       555      1996
 MELA GS               EUR J CANCER                  35      1182      1999
 OPTHOF T              CARDIOVASC RES                33         1      1997
 PORTA M               J EPIDEMIOL COMMUN H          50       606      1996
 SAPER CB              J COMP NEUROL                411         1      1999
 SEGLEN PO             BRIT MED J                   314       498      1997
 SEMENZATO G           SARCOIDOSIS VASC DIF          17        22      2000
 SPERTI G              CARDIOLOGIA                   44        51      1999
 THOMPSON DF           HOSP PHARM                    26       437      1991


EXCERPT FROM ARTICLE :

Considering the limited scope of the present study it would be premature to
say that  citations have been shown empirically to be a flawed measure, but
it does raise that serious possibility and it offers a methodology to
explore this issue further.  Given the importance attaching to citations as
the nearest we have to an objective marker of quality, this would seem to be
a useful area for future study.




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_______________________________________________________________________
Eugene Garfield, PhD.  email: garfield at codex.cis.upenn.edu
home page: www.eugenegarfield.org
Tel: 215-243-2205 Fax 215-387-1266
President, The Scientist LLC. www.the-scientist.com
Chairman Emeritus, ISI www.isinet.com
Past President, American Society for Information Science and Technology
(ASIS&T)  www.asis.org
_______________________________________________________________________