Why are the Most Influential Books in Australian Sociology not Necessarily the Most Highly Cited Ones?
- 1 September 2004
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Journal of Sociology
- Vol. 40 (3), 261-282
- https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783304046370
Abstract
The vote by TASA members on the ‘Most Influential Book in Australian Sociology’ (MIBAS) provides an opportunity to compare quantitative indicators based on citations with the peer review represented by the MIBAS votes. While it is generally agreed that citations are only a partial indicator of such a complex phenomenon as quality, citations are regarded as a reflection of a publication’s, author’s or research group’s ‘impact’ or influence. This assumption is explored by applying several interpretations and operationalizations of the concept of ‘influence’, by discussing their validity, and by comparing the respective citation rankings to the MIBAS poll. The major lessons of the comparison are that citation-based indicators should not be applied in diachronic comparisons, for evaluating publications on nationally specific topics, or in fields in which books are an important part of the research output.Keywords
This publication has 25 references indexed in Scilit:
- Scoreboards of research excellenceResearch Evaluation, 2003
- The validity of publication and citation counts for Sociology and other selected disciplinesJournal of Sociology, 2003
- Evaluation of books as research outputs in history of medicineResearch Evaluation, 2001
- Using the Literature: Reference Networks, Reference Contexts, and the Social Structure of ScholarshipAmerican Sociological Review, 2000
- Bibliometrics and the evaluation of Australian sociologyJournal of Sociology, 2000
- Research Selectivity, Managerialism, and the Academic Labor Process: The Future of Nonmainstream Economics in U.K. UniversitiesHuman Relations, 1997
- Publication ratings versus peer ratings of universitiesJournal of the American Society for Information Science, 1978
- Editorial Policies and Practices Among Leading Journals in Four Scientific FieldsThe Sociological Quarterly, 1978
- Paradigm Development and Particularism: Journal Publication in Three Scientific DisciplinesSocial Forces, 1977
- Differences in Impact of Scientific Publications: Some Indices Derived from a Citation AnalysisSocial Studies of Science, 1976