Citation analysis
What is citation analysis?
Citation analysis is the process of extracting and analysing information about the citation patterns of specific publications. Such patterns include:
- how many times a particular publication, author or body has been cited
- which publications, authors or bodies are citing them
Example of a citation analysis map from Web of Science
h-index
The h-index is a better representation of an author or body's productivity and impact than simpler metrics such as publication counts or citation counts. It has become the most commonly used metric for this purpose, but alternatives exist.
An author with an h-index of n has published at least n publications which have each have been cited at least n times. So if your h-index is 7 you've published at least 7 papers that have been cited 7 times or more.
Web of Science, Scopus, Publish or Perish, and ResearcherID all calculate this metric for identified sets of publications. However, the figures retrieved will vary due to the significant differences in coverage of these resources.
Please get in touch with your faculty librarian for assistance with calculating your h-index.
Tools for citation analysis
The following sources of citation data can be used for individual research and institution citation analysis.
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Google Scholar also tracks citation data. It has better coverage in the arts and humanities than Web of Science or Scopus, but covers the sciences as well. Publish or Perish is software that extracts the citation data present in Google Scholar and produces a range of metrics, including the h-index and journal impact metrics. Produced by Professor Anne-Wil Harzing of the University of Melbourne. The Publish or Perish software is not supported by Library Services. - InCites This link opens in a new window
A customized, citation-based research evaluation tool for analyzing institutional productivity and benchmarking research output against peers worldwide.
- InCites ESI Essential Science Indicators This link opens in a new windowComprehensive compilation of science performance statistics to use to determine influential individuals, institutions, papers, publications, and countries in a field of study as well as emerging research areas.
- Scopus This link opens in a new window
Produced by Elsevier, Scopus covers the sciences (life sciences, health sciences and physical sciences), social sciences and humanities. - Web of Science This link opens in a new window
Produced by Thomson Reuters, Web of Science incorporates the Science Citation Index, Social Sciences Citation Index, and the Arts and Humanities Citation Index. Historically it has been the most widely used tool for performing citation analyses.