Benoit, K; Marsh, M. 2009. A Relative Impact Ranking of Political Studies In Ireland. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL REVIEW 40 (3): 269-298

[Eugene Garfield]

Benoit, K; Marsh, M. 2009. A Relative Impact Ranking of Political Studies In 
Ireland. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL REVIEW 40 (3): 269-298.

Author Full Name(s): Benoit, Kenneth; Marsh, Michael
Language: English
Document Type: Article

KeyWords Plus: WEB-OF-SCIENCE; SOCIAL-SCIENCES

Abstract: Against a background of the Irish government's concerns with Key 
Performance Indicators (KPIs) and the British government's wishes for a more 
quantitative Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), our study conducts a 
relative impact assessment of the study of politics, government, political 
science, and international relations in Ireland. Impact is measured as citations 
from the publications of permanent staff in eight Irish politics departments, 
based on data compiled in April 2008 from two leading academic indexes - ISI's 
Web of Science and Scopus - as well as the now popular Google Scholar. We 
discuss some of the criticisms that naturally arise in a study of this nature. 
Then, following similar exercises in other disciplines (e. g. economics), we use 
the impact measures to compare and rank individual scholars as well as 
departments. We also explore the extent to which the choice of different 
indexes, and different measures, influences the results that we obtain. While 
there are differences, in particular between indexes based purely on articles 
and those that access books and other material, the results from the different 
indexes are strongly correlated.

Addresses: [Benoit, Kenneth; Marsh, Michael] Trinity Coll Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Reprint Address: Benoit, K, Trinity Coll Dublin, Dept Polit Sci, Dublin, Ireland.
ISSN: 0012-9984
PDF: http://www.esr.ie/Vol40_3/02Benoit.pdf