| Record 912 View: Standard | Glossary HistCite Guide |
|
Author(s): Perc M (Perc, Matjaz)
Title: Zipf's law and log-normal distributions in measures of scientific output across fields and institutions: 40 years of Slovenia's research as an example
Source: JOURNAL OF INFORMETRICS 4 (3): 358-364
Date: 2010 JUL
Document Type: Journal : Article
DOI: 10.1016/j.joi.2010.03.001
Language: English
Comment:
Address: Univ Maribor, Fac Nat Sci & Math, Dept Phys, SI-2000 Maribor, Slovenia.
Reprint: Perc, M, Univ Maribor, Fac Nat Sci & Math, Dept Phys, Koroska Cesta 160, SI-2000 Maribor, Slovenia.
E-mail: matjaz.perc@uni-mb.si
Author Keywords: Zipf's law; Citation distribution; g-Index; h-Index; Ranking
KeyWords Plus: SELF-CITATION CORRECTIONS; H-INDEX; COMPLEX NETWORKS; GROWING NETWORKS; POWER; PUBLICATION; ADVANTAGE
Abstract: Slovenia's Current Research Information System (SICRIS) currently hosts 86,443 publications with citation data from 8359 researchers working on the whole plethora of social and natural sciences from 1970 till present. Using these data, we show that the citation distributions derived from individual publications have Zipfian properties in that they can be fitted by a power law P(x)similar to x(-alpha), with alpha between 2.4 and 3.1 depending on the institution and field of research. Distributions of indexes that quantify the success of researchers rather than individual publications, on the other hand, cannot be associated with a power law. We find that for Egghe's g-index and Hirsch's h-index the log-normal form P(x)similar to exp[-alnx - b(ln x)(2)] applies best, with a and b depending moderately on the underlying set of researchers. In special cases, particularly for institutions with a strongly hierarchical constitution and research fields with high self-citation rates, exponential distributions can be observed as well. Both indexes yield distributions with equivalent statistical properties, which is a strong indicator for their consistency and logical connectedness. At the same time, differences in the assessment of citation histories of individual researchers strengthen their importance for properly evaluating the quality and impact of scientific output. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Cited References: ADAM D, 2002, NATURE, V415, P726 ALBERT R, 2002, REV MOD PHYS, V74, P47 BARABASI AL, 1999, SCIENCE, V286, P509 BARILAN J, 2008, J INFORMETR, V2, P1, DOI 10.1016/j.joi.2007.11.001 BORNMANN L, 2008, J AM SOC INF SCI TEC, V59, P830, DOI 10.1002/asi.20806 CABRERIZOA FJ, 2009, J INFORMETR, V4, P23 CLAUSET A, 2007, J CONFLICT RESOLUT, V51, P58, DOI 10.1177/0022002706296157 CLAUSET A, 2009, SIAM REV, V51, P661, DOI 10.1137/070710111 DOROGOVTSEV SN, 2000, EUROPHYS LETT, V52, P33 DOROGOVTSEV SN, 2000, PHYS REV LETT, V85, P4633 DOROGOVTSEV SN, 2003, EVOLUTION NETWORKS B EGGHE L, 1990, INTRO INFORMETRICS Q EGGHE L, 2006, SCIENTOMETRICS, V69, P131, DOI 10.1007/s11192-006-0144-7 EGGHE L, 2008, J AM SOC INF SCI TEC, V59, P1304, DOI 10.1002/asi.20823 EGGHE L, 2008, J AM SOC INF SCI TEC, V59, P1608, DOI 10.1002/asi.20845 EGGHE L, 2009, J INFORMETR, V4, P290 FALOUTSOS M, 1999, SIGCOMM, P251 FOWLER JH, 2007, SCIENTOMETRICS, V72, P427 GARFIELD E, 1983, CURR CONTENTS, P5 GUNS R, 2009, J INFORMETR, V3, P64, DOI 10.1016/j.joi.2008.11.004 HIRSCH JE, 2005, P NATL ACAD SCI USA, V102, P16569, DOI 10.1073/pnas.0507655102 HIRSCH JE, 2007, P NATL ACAD SCI USA, V104, P19193, DOI 10.1073/pnas.0707962104 IGLESIAS JE, 2007, SCIENTOMETRICS, V73, P303, DOI 10.1007/s11192-007-1805-x JIN BH, 2007, CHINESE SCI BULL, V52, P855, DOI 10.1007/s11434-007-0145-9 KRAPIVSKY PL, 2000, PHYS REV LETT, V85, P4629 KRAPIVSKY PL, 2001, PHYS REV E 2, V63, AR066123 KRAPIVSKY PL, 2001, PHYS REV LETT, V86, P5401 LAHERRERE J, 1998, EUR PHYS J B, V2, P525 MERTON RK, 1968, SCIENCE, V159, P56 NEWMAN MEJ, 2001, P NATL ACAD SCI USA, V98, P404 NEWMAN MEJ, 2003, SIAM REV, V45, P167 NEWMAN MEJ, 2005, CONTEMP PHYS, V46, P323, DOI 10.1080/00107510500052444 NEWMAN MEJ, 2009, EPL-EUROPHYS LETT, V86, AR68001 PASTORSATORRAS R, 2004, EVOLUTION STRUCTURE PRESS WH, 1995, NUMERICAL RECIPES C PRICE DJD, 1965, SCIENCE, V149, P510 PRICE DJD, 1976, J AM SOC INFORM SCI, V27, P292 RADICCHI F, 2008, P NATL ACAD SCI USA, V105, P17268, DOI 10.1073/pnas.0806977105 REDNER S, 1998, EUR PHYS J B, V4, P131 REDNER S, 2005, PHYS TODAY, V58, P49 ROUSSEAU R, 2008, J AM SOC INF SCI TEC, V59, P1853, DOI 10.1002/asi.20890 SCHREIBER M, 2007, EPL-EUROPHYS LETT, V78, AR30002 SCHREIBER M, 2008, J INFORMETR, V2, P211, DOI 10.1016/j.joi.2008.05.001 SCHREIBER M, 2008, NEW J PHYS, V10, AR040201 SCHREIBER M, 2008, SCIENTOMETRICS, V76, P187, DOI 10.1007/s11192-007-1886-6 SIDIROPOULOS A, 2007, SCIENTOMETRICS, V72, P253, DOI 10.1007/s11192-007-1722-z SORNETTE D, 2003, CRITICAL PHENOMENA N VENTURA ON, 2006, SCIENTOMETRICS, V69, P287 VIEIRA ES, 2009, J INFORMETR, V4, P1 WAN J, 2007, COLLNET J SCIENTOMET, V1, P1 ZHANG CT, 2009, PLOS ONE, V4, ARE5429 ZIPF GK, 1949, HUMAN BEHAV PRINCIPL |