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Unpacking the Matthew effect in citations

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Unpacking the Matthew effect in citations. / Wang, Jian.
In: Journal of Informetrics, Vol. 8, No. 2, 30.04.2014, p. 329-339.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Wang, J 2014, 'Unpacking the Matthew effect in citations', Journal of Informetrics, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 329-339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2014.01.006

APA

Wang, J. (2014). Unpacking the Matthew effect in citations. Journal of Informetrics, 8(2), 329-339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2014.01.006

Vancouver

Wang J. Unpacking the Matthew effect in citations. Journal of Informetrics. 2014 Apr 30;8(2):329-339. doi: 10.1016/j.joi.2014.01.006

Author

Wang, Jian. / Unpacking the Matthew effect in citations. In: Journal of Informetrics. 2014 ; Vol. 8, No. 2. pp. 329-339.

Bibtex

@article{d2eb98fbe45e4f4e8690e624f1e3b9b3,
title = "Unpacking the Matthew effect in citations",
abstract = "One problem confronting the use of citation-based metrics in science studies and research evaluations is the Matthew effect. This paper reviews the role of citations in science and decomposes the Matthew effect in citations into three components: networking, prestige, and appropriateness. The networking and prestige effects challenge the validity of citation-based metrics, but the appropriateness effect does not. Using panel data of 1279 solo-authored papers' citation histories and fixed effects models, we test these three effects controlling for unobserved paper characteristics. We find no evidence of retroactive networking effect and only weak evidence of prestige effect (very small and not always significant), which provides some support for the use of citation-based metrics in science studies and evaluation practices. In addition, adding the appropriateness effect reduces the size of the prestige effect considerably, suggesting that previous studies controlling for paper quality but not appropriateness may have overestimated the prestige effect.",
keywords = "Appropriateness, Citation, Matthew effect, Networking, Prestige",
author = "Jian Wang",
year = "2014",
month = apr,
day = "30",
doi = "10.1016/j.joi.2014.01.006",
language = "English",
volume = "8",
pages = "329--339",
journal = "Journal of Informetrics",
issn = "1751-1577",
publisher = "Elsevier BV",
number = "2",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Unpacking the Matthew effect in citations

AU - Wang, Jian

PY - 2014/4/30

Y1 - 2014/4/30

N2 - One problem confronting the use of citation-based metrics in science studies and research evaluations is the Matthew effect. This paper reviews the role of citations in science and decomposes the Matthew effect in citations into three components: networking, prestige, and appropriateness. The networking and prestige effects challenge the validity of citation-based metrics, but the appropriateness effect does not. Using panel data of 1279 solo-authored papers' citation histories and fixed effects models, we test these three effects controlling for unobserved paper characteristics. We find no evidence of retroactive networking effect and only weak evidence of prestige effect (very small and not always significant), which provides some support for the use of citation-based metrics in science studies and evaluation practices. In addition, adding the appropriateness effect reduces the size of the prestige effect considerably, suggesting that previous studies controlling for paper quality but not appropriateness may have overestimated the prestige effect.

AB - One problem confronting the use of citation-based metrics in science studies and research evaluations is the Matthew effect. This paper reviews the role of citations in science and decomposes the Matthew effect in citations into three components: networking, prestige, and appropriateness. The networking and prestige effects challenge the validity of citation-based metrics, but the appropriateness effect does not. Using panel data of 1279 solo-authored papers' citation histories and fixed effects models, we test these three effects controlling for unobserved paper characteristics. We find no evidence of retroactive networking effect and only weak evidence of prestige effect (very small and not always significant), which provides some support for the use of citation-based metrics in science studies and evaluation practices. In addition, adding the appropriateness effect reduces the size of the prestige effect considerably, suggesting that previous studies controlling for paper quality but not appropriateness may have overestimated the prestige effect.

KW - Appropriateness

KW - Citation

KW - Matthew effect

KW - Networking

KW - Prestige

U2 - 10.1016/j.joi.2014.01.006

DO - 10.1016/j.joi.2014.01.006

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:84893486252

VL - 8

SP - 329

EP - 339

JO - Journal of Informetrics

JF - Journal of Informetrics

SN - 1751-1577

IS - 2

ER -