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Scholarly Productivity in Psychology: a criticism of citation count research
Author(s) -
Thomas J.B.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
british educational research journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.171
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1469-3518
pISSN - 0141-1926
DOI - 10.1080/0141192800060109
Subject(s) - citation , subject (documents) , criticism , discipline , citation analysis , educational research , psychology , productivity , educational psychology , higher education , citation impact , social science , sociology , pedagogy , library science , political science , computer science , law , economics , macroeconomics
Summary The place of citation count research in the study of disciplinary dynamics is introduced. The body of the paper presents a critical case study of one piece of such research (Rushton & Endler, 1977, 1979) and indicates the basic fallacies of a purely statistical approach to measuring the growth of knowledge in a subject or the influence of its practitioners on the direction and quality of research. The author illustrates lack of validity by reference to the publications of professors of education (educational psychology) in 1975 and demonstrates the inaccuracy and inadequacy of the citation study. The conclusion indicates central weaknesses in citation count research and suggests more appropriate and effective ways of studying the development of knowledge and research in an academic subject.