Lisee, C; Lariviere, V; Archambault, E Conference proceedings as a source of scientific information: A bibliometric analysis JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, 59 (11): 1776-1784 SEP 2008

[Eugene Garfield]

E-mail Address: c_lisee at yahoo.com; lariviere.vincent at uqam.ca; 
eric.archambault at science-metrix.com 

Author(s): Lisee, C (Lisee, Cynthia); Lariviere, V (Lariviere, Vincent); 
Archambault, E (Archambault, Eric) 

Title: Conference proceedings as a source of scientific information: A 
bibliometric analysis 

Source: JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND 
TECHNOLOGY, 59 (11): 1776-1784 SEP 2008 

Language: English 

Document Type: Article 

Keywords Plus: SOCIAL-SCIENCES 

Abstract: While several authors have argued that conference proceedings 
are an important source of scientific knowledge, the extent of their 
importance has not been measured in a systematic manner. This article 
examines the scientific impact and aging of conference proceedings 
compared to those of scientific literature in general. It shows that the 
relative importance of proceedings is diminishing over time and currently 
represents only 1.7% of references made in the natural sciences and 
engineering, and 2.5% in the social sciences and humanities. Although the 
scientific impact of proceedings is losing ground to other types of 
scientific literature in nearly all fields, it has grown from 8% of the 
references in engineering papers in the early 1980s to its current 10%. 
Proceedings play a particularly important role in computer sciences, where 
they account for close to 20% of the references. This article also shows 
that not unexpectedly, proceedings age faster than cited scientific 
literature in general. The evidence thus shows that proceedings have a 
relatively limited scientific impact, on average representing only about 
2% of total citations, that their relative importance is shrinking, and 
that they become obsolete faster than the scientific literature in 
general. 

Addresses: Univ Quebec, CIRST, OST, Montreal, PQ H3C 3P8, Canada; Sci 
Metrix, Montreal, PQ H2J 1Y6, Canada 

Reprint Address: Lisee, C, Univ Quebec, CIRST, OST, CP 8888,Succursale Ctr 
Ville, Montreal, PQ H3C 3P8, Canada. 

E-mail Address: c_lisee at yahoo.com; lariviere.vincent at uqam.ca; 
eric.archambault at science-metrix.com 

Cited Reference Count: 13 

Times Cited: 0 

Publisher: JOHN WILEY & SONS INC 

Publisher Address: 111 RIVER ST, HOBOKEN, NJ 07030 USA 

ISSN: 1532-2882 

DOI: 10.1002/asi.20888 

29-char Source Abbrev.: J AM SOC INF SCI TECHNOL 

ISO Source Abbrev.: J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci. Technol. 

Source Item Page Count: 9 

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

ISI Document Delivery No.: 339MV 

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