Research & Publishing in Health Sciences: Elevate Your Research

What is Citation Analysis?

Citation Analysis is the process of where the impact or quality of an articles is assessed by counting the number of times the article is mention in others researchers/authors work. Citation analysis involves counting the number of times an articles is cited by other works. That said, there is no single citation analysis tool for collecting cited references. In order to complete a thorough citation analysis you will have to look at multiple databases to find all possible cited references. UK Libraries offers several resources that can be used to identify cited works including Web of Science. Scopus, and Google Scholar.

Web of Science Citation Analysis

Web of Science is one of the most interdisciplinary and most comprehensive citation resource (though it is important to note there are some holes in coverage by date and discipline). Citation analysis can be completed at the article, journal, and author level. Selecting an article will show times cited, how many cited references there are, and Web of Science usage counts. An author can also be selected and the citation network and see H-index, sum of times cited, citing articles, and author position.

Scopus Citation Analysis

Scopus is another resource frequently used for citation analysis and journal ranking statistics. Scopus claims to be the "largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature and quality web sources with smart tools to track, analyze and visualize research." That said, it is important to note it is newer and therefore does not have as extensive a history as WoS. Citation tracking in Scopus is only available for articles published from 1996 to the present.

Google Scholar Citation Analysis

Google Scholar includes a "cited by" feature that takes the user to a page which includes all of the articles that cite the original article.

Remember: Citation searching in any of these tools means you are only searching titles that are indexed by each database. Not all databases index the same. No single tool provides a complete count of citations!

What is H-Index?

H-Index is a type of citation analysis. Web of Science uses the H-Index to quantify research output by measuring author productivity and impact.

H-Index = number of papers (h) with a citation number ≥ h.

Example: a scientist with an H-Index of 28 has 28 papers cited at least 28 times.

Advantages of H-Index

• Allows for direct comparisons within a discipline

• Uses a single value to quantify impact

Disadvantages of H-Index

• Does not provide an accurate gauge for early-career researchers

• Calculated by using only articles that are indexed in Web of Science.  If a researcher publishes an article in a journal that is not indexed by Web of Science, the article as well as any citations to it will not be included in the H-Index calculation.

What is Journal Impact?

Journal impact reflects the importance of a particular journal by taking into account the number of articles it publishes per year and the number of citations it has per year. Journal impact is informative. Researchers within a field often have a better sense of their disciplines top journals.

Impact Factor Calculation for JCR

A = the number of times articles published in 2017 and 2018 were cited by indexed journals during 2019.

B = the total number of "citable items" published in 2017 and 2018.

^A⁄_B = 2019 impact factor

What is ORCiD?

An ORCiD is a persistent and unique identifier for researchers. ORCiD provides a persistent digital identifier that distinguishes you from every other researcher and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between you and your professional activities ensuring that your work is recognized (ORCiD).

ORCiD will help:

• Make your work discoverable.
• Distinguish between you and other authors with identical or similar names.
• Link together all of your works, even if you have used different names throughout your career.
• Make it easier for funders to find your research outputs.
• Streamline submissions to publishers, grant funders, and associations who use ORCiD.

Create an ORCiD Account

Registering for an ORCiD is a quick process! 

• Go to https://orcid.org/register
• Fill in the required fields
• Chose your privacy settings
• Decide if you want notifications
• Accept Terms of Use
• You will be provided with a 16-digit number, expressed as a URI, - this is your ORCID ID.

Don't forget to include your ORCID identifier on your webpage, when you submit publications, apply for grants, and in any research workflow to ensure you get credit for your work.

A Scopus Author ID is automatically generated if you have a paper indexed in the database. Scopus author ID is not required for your article to be indexed. Having a Scopus ID will allow you to easily find a list of your publications and view citation metrics such as h-index measures, citation counts, publications and co-authors.

Scopus Author ID can be linked to ORCID so publications can be imported into your ORCID.

Link Your ID from ORCiD

1. Login to ORCiD
2. In the Works section, select 'Add works’ and then ‘Search & link’
3. Select Scopus Elsevier from the list and authorise
4. Follow the steps to associate your Scopus profile and works with ORCID.

    

Link Your ID from Scopus

1. Go to Scopus Author search.
2. Search by your name and affiliation
3. Click on your name in the results list to open your profile page. You will only find your name if a journal you have published in is indexed in Scopus.
4. If you do have an Author ID, select ‘Connect to ORCID’ (located in 'Profile Actions')
5. Follow the steps to associate your Scopus author profile with your ORCID record.