Research evaluation of author’s citation-based performance through the relative author superiority index

Guillermo Armando Ronda-Pupo

doi:10.1590/2318-08892017000200006

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this paper is to further explore the recent conversation about the indicators for research evaluation through citation-based indexes. It evaluates the Cuban Biotechnology; Applied Microbiology researchers’ citation-based performance, according to their scientific production in journals of the ISI Web of Science database through the Relative Author Superiority Index. The methodology comprises six steps: (1) preparation of the data; (2) calculation of the Percentile Rank Index for each of the papers; (3) calculation of the Author Superiority Index for each of the authors; (4) Calculation of the Relative Author Superiority Index; (5) Comparison of the Author Superiority Index of each author to their Hirsch (H) and G citation indexes and (6) individual or group evaluation of the citation-based performance. The findings suggest that the group of Cuban researchers in biotechnology achieved a high citation-based performance within the analyzed period. The results show the effectiveness of this index to assess the citation performance of individual or group researchers when the impact factor of the researcher or group under evaluation is not high. In addition, the Relative Author Superiority index could be complementary to other previous indicators such as H-index, G-index or citation counts as it overcomes the limitations of the age of publications, length of the author’s career, and the self-citation problem that are present in other indicators.

Highlights

Introduction is predicting NobelPrize winners with reasonably high accuracy based on citation records of scientistsGARFIELD (2014) the founding father of the (GAJENDRA; SINGH, 2009).Intitute for Scientific Information (ISI) Database, states: “Citations are the currency of scholarship”
Twenty-five Cuban researchers accounted for 72% of the overall Cuban scientific output in Biotechnology
When the Author Superiority Index (ASI) index is used to assess the author’s citation-based performance, we found many insightful results

Summary

Introduction

Intitute for Scientific Information (ISI) Database, states: “Citations are the currency of scholarship”. Following this belief, throughout the world, research bodies begun to quantify research quality through citation analysis (FINCH, 2010). To measure the performance of a researcher using objective measurements has become one of the major challenges in science (GAJENDRA; SINGH, 2009). Researchers have suggested many indexes to overcome the abovementioned limitations of citation measures as indicators of scientific impact. Among these indexes, the most cited in the scientific literature is the H-index (HIRSCH, 2005) and its descendants. The second most cited are the G-index (EGGHE, 2013) and its descendants, and the Crown indicator (MOED et al, 1995; MOED, 2010; WALTMAN et al, 2011b), among others

Objectives

Results

Conclusion