Levitt, JM (Levitt, Jonathan M.); Thelwall, M (Thelwall, Mike) Citation Levels and Collaboration Within Library and Information Science JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, 60 (3): 434-442 MAR 2009

[Eugene Garfield]

E-mail Address: j.m.levitt at wlv.ac.uk; m.thelwall at wlv.ac.uk 

Author(s): Levitt, JM (Levitt, Jonathan M.); Thelwall, M (Thelwall, Mike)
 
Title: Citation Levels and Collaboration Within Library and Information 
Science 

Source: JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND 
TECHNOLOGY, 60 (3): 434-442 MAR 2009 

Language: English 

Document Type: Article 

KeyWords Plus: SCIENTIFIC COLLABORATION; INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION; 
BIOMEDICAL-RESEARCH; MOLECULAR-BIOLOGY; IMPACT; COAUTHORSHIP; COOPERATION; 
INDICATORS; AUTHORSHIP; NETWORKS 

Abstract: Collaboration is a major research policy objective, but does it 
deliver higher quality research? This study uses citation analysis to 
examine the Web of Science (WoS) Information Science & Library Science 
subject category (IS&LS) to ascertain whether, in general, more highly 
cited articles are more highly collaborative than other articles. It 
consists of two investigations. The first investigation is a longitudinal 
comparison of the degree and proportion of collaboration in five strata of 
citation; it found that collaboration in the highest four citation strata 
(all in the most highly cited 22%) increased in unison over time, whereas 
collaboration in the lowest citation strata (un-cited articles) remained 
low and stable. Given that over 40% of the articles were un-cited, it 
seems important to take into account the differences found between un-
cited articles and relatively highly cited articles when investigating 
collaboration in IS&LS. The second investigation compares collaboration 
for 35 influential information scientists; it found that their more highly 
cited articles on average were not more highly collaborative than their 
less highly cited articles. In summary, although collaborative research is 
conducive to high citation in general, collaboration has apparently not 
tended to be essential to the success of current and former elite 
information scientists. 

Addresses: [Levitt, Jonathan M.; Thelwall, Mike] Wolverhampton Univ, Stat 
Cybermetr Res Grp, Sch Comp & Informat Technol, Wolverhampton WV1 1SB, 
England 

Reprint Address: Levitt, JM, Wolverhampton Univ, Stat Cybermetr Res Grp, 
Sch Comp & Informat Technol, Wulfruna St, Wolverhampton WV1 1SB, England. 

E-mail Address: j.m.levitt at wlv.ac.uk; m.thelwall at wlv.ac.uk 

Cited Reference Count: 32 

Times Cited: 0 

Publisher: JOHN WILEY & SONS INC 

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

ISSN: 1532-2882 

DOI: 10.1002/asi.21000 

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.: 415LK 

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