Neuhaus, C (Neuhaus, Christoph); Daniel, HD (Daniel, Hans-Dieter) Data sources for performing citation analysis: an overview JOURNAL OF DOCUMENTATION, 64 (2): 193-210 2008

[Eugene Garfield]

E-mail Address: neuhaus at gess.ethz.ch 

Author(s): Neuhaus, C (Neuhaus, Christoph); Daniel, HD (Daniel, Hans-
Dieter) 

Title: Data sources for performing citation analysis: an overview 

Source: JOURNAL OF DOCUMENTATION, 64 (2): 193-210 2008 

Excerpt: As highlighted by Moed (2005, p. 316), including a greater number 
of data sources to perform citation analysis does not necessarily lead to 
more valid assessments of scientific advancement and of scientists’ 
productivity. Given the methodological and technical difficulties in 
citation analysis, citation-enhanced databases need to be
examined carefully, both in regard to their potentialities and their 
limitations for citation analysis (Moed, 2005). Particularly, they should 
be explored to determine whether they provide more complete citation data 
for publication types not covered in the Thomson Scientific citation 
indexes. Decisive for further bibliometric studies will be which databases 
perform best as data source for particular fields and time periods.
As seen in this paper, each bibliographic database covers unique content, 
but none is comprehensive. In this respect, new citation-enhanced 
databases must be viewed more as a supplement than as a substitute to the 
Thomson Scientific citation indexes.Certainly, the usefulness of citation-
enhanced databases will grow as the amount of content increases, e.g. when 
analysing the long-term impact of scientific work. In the
future, citation-enhanced databases could potentially also be used to 
calculate reference standards to allow for field normalisation or metrics 
similar to the highly controversial journal impact factor calculated on an 
annual basis by Thomson Scientific. Definitively, coverage is not the only 
criteria determining the usefulness of bibliographic databases for 
performing citation analysis. The quality of data must be
considered as well as the database implementation’s facilities for 
browsing, searching and analysing data.

In any case, the central assumption of bibliometric assessment of research
performance remains the same: scientists refer in their work to the 
earlier work of other scientists, which they have found useful in pursuing 
their own research. Obviously, the process of citation is a complex one 
and assessing research performance by citation analysis is a vulnerable 
method. Problems such as different motives for giving or not
giving a reference to a particular publication, self-citations, or 
differences in publication and citation practices among fields and 
subfields have all been clearly outlined (e.g. MacRoberts and MacRoberts, 
1996). Despite these limitations, many studies have demonstrated that 
citation analysis provides useful information for research evaluation and 
that “ex ante peer review should be supplemented ex post with
bibliometrics and other metrics of science to give a broader and powerful 
methodologywith which to assess scientific advancement” (Daniel, 2005, 
p.147).

Note
1. The Century of Science initiative makes available approximately 850,000 
publications from 262 scientific journals published from 1900 to 1944. For 
further information see 
www.thomsonscientific.com/centuryofscience/

Language: English 

Document Type: Article 

Author Keywords: information; publications; reference services; internet; 
online database 

Keywords Plus: SCIENCE; DATABASES; SOCIOLOGY; SEARCHES; SCHOLAR; WEB 

Abstract: Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide in overview of 
new citation-enhanced databases and to identify issues to be considered 
when they are used as a data source for performing citation analysis.
Design/methodology/approach - The paper reports the limitations of Thomson 
Scientific's citation indexes and reviews the characteristics of the 
citation-enhanced databases Chemical Abstracts, Google Scholar and Scopus.
Findings - The study suggests that citation-enhanced databases need to be 
examined carefully, With regard to both their potenlialities and their 
limitations for citation analysis.
Originality/value - The paper presents a valuable overview of new citation-
enhanced databases in the context of research evaluation. 

Addresses: [Neuhaus, Christoph] Swiss Fed Inst Technol, Zurich, 
Switzerland; [Daniel, Hans-Dieter] Univ Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland 

Reprint Address: Neuhaus, C, Swiss Fed Inst Technol, Zurich, Switzerland. 

E-mail Address: neuhaus at gess.ethz.ch 

Cited Reference Count: 26 

Times Cited: 0 

Publisher: EMERALD GROUP PUBLISHING LIMITED 

Publisher Address: HOWARD HOUSE, WAGON LANE, BINGLEY BD16 1WA, W 
YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND 

ISSN: 0022-0418 

DOI: 10.1108/00220410810858010 

29-char Source Abbrev.: J DOC 

ISO Source Abbrev.: J. Doc. 

Source Item Page Count: 18 

Subject Category: Computer Science, Information Systems; Information 
Science & Library Science 

ISI Document Delivery No.: 341RY 

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