FW: The focus on bibliometrics makes papers less useful

Why we cite a work? Is citation index reliable for the assessment of researchers? And much more…

"The underlying assumption of bibliometrics is that, by citing, scientists are engaging in an ongoing poll to elect the best-quality academic papers. But we know the real reasons that we cite. Chiefly, it is to refer to results from other people, our own earlier work or a method; to give credit to partial results towards the same goal; to back up some terminology; to provide background reading for less familiar ideas; and sometimes to criticize.

There are less honourable reasons, too: to boost a friend's citation statistics; to satisfy a potential big-shot referee; and to give the impression that there is a community interested in the topic by stuffing the introduction with irrelevant citations to everybody, often recycled from earlier papers."

Feed: Nature - Issue - nature.com science feeds
Posted on: Tuesday, 13 January 2015 11:00 AM
Author: Reinhard Werner
Subject: The focus on bibliometrics makes papers less useful


The focus on bibliometrics makes papers less useful

Nature 517, 7534 (2015). http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/517245a

Author: Reinhard Werner

Forcing research to fit the mould of high-impact journals weakens it. Hiring decisions should be based on merit, not impact factor, says Reinhard Werner.



View article...<http://feeds.nature.com/~r/nature/rss/current/~3/7g1i2QhXDic/517245a>