Calero-Medina, C; Lopez-Illescas, C; Visser, MS; Moed, HF Important factors when interpreting bibliometric rankings of world universities: an example from oncology RESEARCH EVALUATION, 17 (1): 71-81 MAR 2008

[Eugene Garfield]

E-mail Address: clara at cwts.leidenuniv.nl; carlopz at ugr.es; 
visser at cwts.leidenuniv.nl; moed at cwts.leidenuniv.nl 

Author(s): Calero-Medina, C (Calero-Medina, Clara); Lopez-Illescas, C 
(Lopez-Illescas, Carmen); Visser, MS (Visser, Martlin S.); Moed, HF (Moed, 
Henk F.) 

Title: Important factors when interpreting bibliometric rankings of world 
universities: an example from oncology
 
Source: RESEARCH EVALUATION, 17 (1): 71-81 MAR 2008 

Language: English 

Document Type: Article 

Keywords Plus: CITATION 

Abstract: This paper presents bibliometric characteristics of the 386 most 
frequently publishing world universities and of a (partly overlapping) set 
of 529 European universities. Rather than presenting a ranking itself, it 
presents a statistical analysis of ranking data, focusing on more general 
patterns. It compares US universities with European institutions; 
countries with a strong concentration of academic research activities 
among universities with nations showing a more even distribution; a 
ranking of universities based on indicators calculated for all research 
fields combined with one compiled for a single field (oncology); general 
with specialised universities; and rankings based on a single indicator 
with maps combining social network analysis and a series of indicators. It 
highlights important factors that should be taken into account in the 
interpretation of rankings of research universities based on bibliometric 
indicators. Moreover, it illustrates policy-relevant research questions 
that may be addressed in secondary analyses of ranking data. In this way, 
this paper aims at contributing to a public information system on research 
universities. 

Addresses: Leiden Univ, Ctr Sci & Technol Studies CWTS, NL-2300 RB Leiden, 
Netherlands; Univ Granada, SCImago Res Grp, Dept Lib & Informat Sci, E-
18071 Granada, Spain 

Reprint Address: Calero-Medina, C, Leiden Univ, Ctr Sci & Technol Studies 
CWTS, POB 9555, NL-2300 RB Leiden, Netherlands. 

E-mail Address: clara at cwts.leidenuniv.nl; carlopz at ugr.es; 
visser at cwts.leidenuniv.nl; moed at cwts.leidenuniv.nl 

Cited Reference Count: 20 

Times Cited: 0 

Publisher: BEECH TREE PUBLISHING 

Publisher Address: 10 WATFORD CLOSE,, GUILDFORD GU1 2EP, SURREY, ENGLAND 

ISSN: 0958-2029 

29-char Source Abbrev.: RES EVALUAT 

ISO Source Abbrev.: Res. Evaluat. 

Source Item Page Count: 11 

Subject Category: Information Science & Library Science 

ISI Document Delivery No.: 293UX 

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