I was studying about the presently available bibliometrics and scientometrics tool like Impact factor, H index, g index etc etc, suddenly a thought came to my mind that as today's universe of knowledge is increasing so fast and researchers want to see their research impact in the academic community in a quick time, so are the available tools really helpful for measuring the author level or article level impacts?
I think you should check this out http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2126010/pdf/9056804.pdf
Bibliometrics should be used only to track scientific ideas, because that is why they were invented...not for assessment purposes...
Deepjyooti - not a straight-forward questions to answer. There are many who are critical of the concept of bibliometrics. On the other hand, they are currently the most commonly used academic criteria to rate individuals academic 'currency' and impact. Many on RG will understand the context of 'score-targeting' and improvement.
As I have said, there are numerous critiques demonstrating conceptual and technical reasons why the impact factor is not necessarily an ideal indicator for evaluating research. For example:
• less than 5% of all journals are actually included in the database and indexes
• English-language, and in particular US-based journals, are favoured
• factors are usually based on levels of readership rather than the quality of published research.
Relatedly, h-index is perhaps a little less controversial - and is often considered a part of the academic recruitment process. For many, an h-index score of 20 is regarded as a measure of academic tenure success over a period of 20 years (with a conservative bibliometric - such as Thomson-Reuter ISI). For those wanting to make a career out of publishing, it may be worthwhile to target those journals that would give your published work the most visibility (impact) and increased chance of citation by others. It is worth noting, however, that those who focus on publishing - quality is probably better than quantity; especially as long as bibliometrics remain popular.
Dear Dr Whitehead,
I agree some points that you made here. But you have mentioned that "less than 5% of all journals are actually included in the database and indexes". I would like to know how many scholarly peer-reviewed journals are globally available (exclude predatory journals). From which what % of journals are indexed in databases. Please give me the source. I am grateful this help.
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