Critical assessment of bibliometrical features in the subject field of pharmacy.

Houston, William

Abstract

The evolution of modern science and the scientific journal is outlined. The role of the Reference List is discussed, and its relationship with the citation. Mathematical manipulation of citations and citation analysis are criticized. The limitations of citation indexing in terms of precision in information retrieval are highlighted, and the need to adopt a subject approach to improve this. The concept of "true" citation indexing, i.e. increasing precision with use only of citations as indexing terms, is introduced. The concept of Qualified Citation Indexing, and its extension in terms of restriction to one discipline, Pharmacy, is described. Weighting parameters are introduced, based on citation analysis by a pragmatic approach. Description is given of the resulting Discipline Weighted Qualified Citation Index (dwQCI) in hard-copy form, and suggestions for online accessibility. The dwQCI is criticized together with the feasibility of constructing a dwQCI. Future prospects for theories of citing and citation indexing are discussed. The cautious and pragmatic use of bibliometrlc data can afford a basis on which to define core lists of journals. A dwQCI may be constructed without resort to authors contributing to it. The characteristics of a dwQCI can offer increased precision in searches based on citation indexing, but this is at the expense of necessary manual intervention in a machine-generated system. Where precision in citation-based information-retrieval systems is a high premium, the efforts in creating a dwQCI online could be justified.

Citation

HOUSTON, W. 1985. Critical assessment of bibliometrical features in the subject field of pharmacy. Robert Gordon's Institute of Technology, MPhil thesis. Hosted on OpenAIR [online]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.48526/rgu-wt-1993254

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Sep 12, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 12, 2024
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.48526/rgu-wt-1993254
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1993254
• Award Date: Apr 30, 1985