Two new papers published in Cybermetrics e-journal

[Isidro F. Aguillo]

A Closer Look at the Sources of Informetric Research
Judit Bar-Ilan

Cybermetrics, 13 (1): Paper  4
http://www.cindoc.csic.es/cybermetrics/articles/v13i1p4.html
http://www.cindoc.csic.es/cybermetrics/articles/v13i1p4.pdf


Currently existing data sources for informetric research are far from 
being perfect. Some of the imperfections are caused by uneven coverage, 
errors or changes in indexing policies that are often not retroactive or 
by mistaken or ineffective retrieval strategies employed by the users. 
Being aware of the limitations of the data sources and a closer 
inspection of the data we work with can improve the validity and 
interpretation of our findings. In this paper I discuss current 
limitations of several data sources, emphasize the ever-changing nature 
of these sources and recommend trying to understand the specific 
problems and limitations at the time the study is conducted instead of 
relying on methods recommended in previous studies.

 

The 5-year synchronous impact factor for large Journal Citation Reports 
(JCR) subject areas
The STIMULATE 9 Group 

Cybermetrics, 13 (1): Paper  5
http://www.cindoc.csic.es/cybermetrics/articles/v13i1p5.html
http://www.cindoc.csic.es/cybermetrics/articles/v13i1p5.pdf

Using the largest JCR Thomson Reuters subject areas it is shown that the 
two-year and the five-year impact factor of journals lead statistically 
to the same ranking per category. This observation holds for top 
journals as well as lower level journals. Yet in a majority of cases the 
5-year impact factor is larger than the 2-year one. A special case was 
observed in which one article influenced macro statistics of a whole 
journal subject category.

-- 
*************************************
Isidro F. Aguillo, HonPhD
Cybermetrics Lab
CCHS - CSIC
Albasanz, 26-28, 3C1. 28037 Madrid. Spain

Ph. 91-602 2890. Fax: 91-602 2971

isidro.aguillo @ cchs.csic.es
www. webometrics.info
*************************************