A bibliometric study of productivity and impact of modern language and literature research

[Eugene Garfield]

A bibliometric study of productivity and impact of modern language and 
literature research

Author(s): Nederhof, AJ (Nederhof, Anton J.)
Source: RESEARCH EVALUATION  Volume: 20  Issue: 2  Pages: 117-129  DOI: 
10.3152/095820211X12941371876508  Published: JUN 2011  

Abstract: A bibliometric evaluation was made of research performance in 
modern language and linguistics research. Separate analyses were made for 
language and linguistics and for literature components of each language in the 
study. The study covered both publications directed at a national or 
international scholarly output and publications destined for the general public. 
The latter accounted. for 8-73% of the output, and were particularly important 
in literature output. Publication and citation behavior differed considerably 
between language and linguistics on the one hand and literature on the other 
hand, calling for a tailored design of monitoring studies in both fields. In 
publications directed at scholars, the national language did not dominate. In 
literature fields, the language of the object of study was most important, while 
in language and linguistics, the object language was not always more important 
than English. The study indicates that both journal articles and book output 
need to be included in bibliometric evaluation. Citation impact analysis is shown 
to be informative in bibliometric assessment in this field, especially when a five-
year citation window is used.

Language: English
Document Type: Article
KeyWords Plus: RESEARCH PERFORMANCE; DEPARTMENTS RESEARCH; 
BEHAVIORAL-SCIENCES; SOCIAL-SCIENCES; HUMANITIES; INDICATORS; 
PUBLICATIONS; CITATIONS; JOURNALS; QUALITY

Addresses: Leiden Univ, Ctr Sci & Technol Studies CWTS, NL-2300 AX Leiden, 
Netherlands
Reprint Address: Nederhof, AJ (reprint author), Leiden Univ, Ctr Sci & Technol 
Studies CWTS, Wassenaarseweg 62A,POB 905, NL-2300 AX Leiden, Netherlands

E-mail Address: neder-hof at cwts.leidenuniv.nl
IDS Number: 789SS
ISSN: 0958-2029
URL: 
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/beech/rev/2011/00000020/00000002
/art00003