Aaltojarvi, I; Arminen, I; Auranen, O; Pasanen, HM Scientific productivity, web visibility and citation patterns in sixteen Nordic sociology departments ACTA SOCIOLOGICA, 51 (1): 5-22 MAR 2008

[Eugene Garfield]

E-mail Address: inari.aaltojarvi at uta.fi; ilkka.arminen at uta.fi; 
otto.auranen at uta.fi; hanna-mari.pasanen at uta.fi 

Author(s): Aaltojarvi, I (Aaltojarvi, Inari); Arminen, I (Arminen, Ilkka); 
Auranen, O (Auranen, Otto); Pasanen, HM (Pasanen, Hanna-Mari) 

Title: Scientific productivity, web visibility and citation patterns in 
sixteen Nordic sociology departments 

Source: ACTA SOCIOLOGICA, 51 (1): 5-22 MAR 2008 

Language: English 

Document Type: Article 

Author Keywords: citation; Google Scholar; Nordic sociology; scientific 
output; scientific productivity; Thomson scientific; web visibility 

Keywords Plus: ACADEMIC CAPITALISM; GOOGLE SCHOLAR; SCIENCE; IMPACT; 
COLLABORATION; FACULTY; GENDER 

Abstract: Science is being published increasingly on the web. In this 
article, we explore how Nordic sociology is represented on Google Scholar 
(GS), what its output and impact is, and what factors explain it. Our data 
consist of faculty in 16 Nordic sociology departments in March 2005. The 
distribution of their publications and citations is skewed. Thirteen per 
cent of scholars do not appear on GS, whereas only 15 per cent have more 
than 5 publications. Of scholars with at least 1 publication (n = 240), 75 
per cent have at most 10 citations. Both the number of web hits (web 
visibility) and citations are influenced by the gender of the faculty 
member, type and age of publication. Web visibility, citations and 
position are mutually reinforcing. Departmental effect is greater in web 
visibility than citations. International publications have started to 
dominate the social sciences, international monographs being particularly 
frequently cited. The remaining salience of books shows that sociology is 
still a distinct form of knowledge. The exclusive use of refereed articles 
and direct comparisons with the natural sciences ignore important aspects 
of the social sciences. In all, while GS produces findings similar to 
those in citation databases such as the SSCI, some systematic differences 
exist. No individual method for measuring scientific output is objective. 

Addresses: Univ Tampere, Dept Sociol & Social Psychol, FIN-33014 Tampere, 
Finland; Univ Tampere, Inst Social Res, Unit Sci Technol & Innovat 
Studies, FIN-33014 Tampere, Finland 

Reprint Address: Aaltojarvi, I, Univ Tampere, Dept Sociol & Social 
Psychol, FIN-33014 Tampere, Finland. 

E-mail Address: inari.aaltojarvi at uta.fi; ilkka.arminen at uta.fi; 
otto.auranen at uta.fi; hanna-mari.pasanen at uta.fi 

Cited Reference Count: 44 

Times Cited: 0 

Publisher: SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD 

Publisher Address: 1 OLIVERS YARD, 55 CITY ROAD, LONDON EC1Y 1SP, ENGLAND 

ISSN: 0001-6993 

29-char Source Abbrev.: ACTA SOCIOL 

ISO Source Abbrev.: Acta Sociol. 

Source Item Page Count: 18 

Subject Category: Sociology 

ISI Document Delivery No.: 280DH 

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