Textbook Citations Research Articles

Navigating the Perks and Drawbacks of Textbook Citations in Research Articles

Navigating the Perks and Drawbacks of Textbook Citations in Research Articles

Textbook ranking and an assessment method and system: a case study using surveying textbooks

Purpose Teachers, students, librarians, scholars and domain experts often spend a lot of time and effort to select good and suitable textbooks. This study aims to propose and construct a computer-aided bibliometric system to rate textbooks. Through the software system designed here, the quality of every textbook can be easily and quickly known. This system will benefit both scholars and librarians. Design/methodology/approach Four methods were used to evaluate textbooks in this study, including: questionnaire recommendation analysis, dissertation citation analysis, library circulation analysis and bibliography analysis. The system architecture includes three subsystems: the textbook indexing and searching subsystem, the statistics added-value analysis subsystem and the citation report inquiry subsystem. An example demonstrates the usability and validity of the proposed method and system. The example uses surveying textbooks. The following percentages were used in the correlation calculation: textbook citation percentage (TCP), textbook library circulation percentage (TLP) and textbook recommend percentage (TRP). Findings There are three textbook assessment methods applied in this study, including: dissertation citation, library circulation and questionnaire recommendation. Dissertation citations for textbooks have a high correlation value with library circulation. The frequency correlation calculation was 0.7, while the TCP, TLP and TRP correlation calculation was 0.84. Therefore, the dissertation citation method can be accepted to evaluate textbooks effectively. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first work related to evaluating surveying textbooks using a computer-aided bibliometrics system that can deal with large amounts of data and generate results quickly. This can be applied to other fields as well.

Not Another “Researcher-Centric” Index: A Cautionary Note

In their focal article, Aguinis et al. (2017) conducted an empirical analysis of the most frequently cited sources, articles, and authors in industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology textbooks. The authors conclude that their “results are encouraging regarding the scientist–practitioner model” (p. 545). We disagree. Although we applaud the effort that went into this research, we are concerned that the method used in the article, focusing on textbook citations, creates yet another “researcher-centric” index that will do nothing to address the research–practice gap. The problematic “researcher-centric” perspective manifests itself in several ways in the focal article, which we elaborate below.

Who’s Who in Introductory Psychology Textbooks

It is important to assess periodically how introductory textbooks portray our discipline because introductory psychology is the most popular psychology course, almost all teachers use textbooks for it, and textbooks play a major role in defining the course for students. To do so, past studies have used textbook citation analyses. We analyzed current textbooks to update the citation findings of these studies for the most cited articles, books, and psychologists. Many highly cited articles and books have decreased in citation frequency, likely due to a currency bias and authors’ citation preferences. Freud had the highest citation page count, reinforcing students’ misconception of his importance in contemporary scientific psychology. Our findings should help teachers in making choices about course content and emphases.

University students and faculty have positive perceptions of open/alternative resources and their utilization in a textbook replacement initiative

This is contribution no. 16-114-J from the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station. The Kansas State University Open/Alternative Textbook Initiative provides grants to faculty members to replace textbooks with open/alternative educational resources (OAERs) that are available at no cost to students. Open educational resources are available for anyone to access, while alternative educational resources are not open. The objective of this study was to determine the perceptions towards OAERs and the initiative, of students enrolled in, and faculty members teaching, courses using OAERs. A survey was sent out to 2,074 students in 13 courses using the OAERs. A total of 524 (25.3%) students completed the survey and a faculty member from each of the 13 courses using OAERs was interviewed. Students rated the OAERs as good quality, preferred using them instead of buying textbooks for their courses, and agreed that they would like OAERs used in other courses. Faculty felt that student learning was somewhat better and it was somewhat easier to teach using OAERs than when they used the traditional textbooks. Nearly all faculty members preferred teaching with OAERs and planned to continue to do so after the funding period. These results, combined with the tremendous savings to students, support the continued funding of the initiative and similar approaches at other institutions. Keywords: e-textbook; college; open educational resources; Kansas State; open textbook (Published: 8 June 2016) Citation: Research in Learning Technology 2016, 24: 29920 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v24.29920

An incomplete list of eminent psychologists of the modern era.

In the present paper, we analyzed citation impact, textbook citations, and major scientific awards to identify eminent psychologists of modern era (Post-World War II). Identifying these individuals serves educational, administrative, and scholarly purposes. Readers can more readily identify the psychologists who have made the most impact on the profession, as well as the type of contributions that receive recognition. In addition, young researchers can learn what is required if they want to achieve eminence. Finally, our analysis helps pinpoint imbalances in need of change, for example gender and ethnic disparities.

Methods for recommending and predicting Nobel Prize candidates

Purpose – In the twenty-first century, technology and information are continuously being changed and rapidly updated. Many new innovations and discoveries emerge daily. This study aims to identify significant pioneers and milestones in academic research through utilizing bibliometric methods and heterogeneous data, including textbook citations, citations of theses and dissertations, and journal citations. Design/methodology/approach – This study proposes several methods and formulas for recommending Nobel prizes candidates. Through utilizing bibliometric methods and heterogeneous data, including textbook citations, citations of theses and dissertations, and journal article citations, this research facilitates the collection of numerous significant research results. The authors propose several new, useful formulae, including a pioneer paper impact factor, a popular classical paper impact factor, a ranking factor of specific fields, a groundbreaking author impact factor, and a frequently cited author impact factor. Findings – This study utilizes historical information on the Nobel Prize to examine, revise, and verify existing methods for recommending and predicting candidates, in order to enhance the accuracy and availability of the approach presented by this study. The experimental results show that the approach designed in this study had a rate of successful prediction exceeding 50 percent. The major reason for producing reasonable results is that the milestone paper and pioneer paper are filtered first, and then the important candidate authors from the most pioneer paper are filtered. Therefore, the results indicated the feasibility of the methods developed by this study. Originality/value – The purpose of the Nobel Prize is to reward original research findings or inventions that significantly and positively influence human life. However, due to budget limitations, only five fields are included in the academic domains for which Nobel prizes are awarded. The authors develop one useful new way to identify milestone papers and authors. Young students can choose, read and learn from these milestone papers. The pioneer authors identified by this research could be the recommended candidate list for some academic awards.

Textbook Citations as a Measure of Journal Influence on International Business Education

Previously published rankings of journals in relation to international business research are based on a survey method or a journal-based citation method wherein functional discipline journals are excluded from consideration. The narrow focus of these studies has generated criticism for perpetuating an international business silo perspective. In this study the textbook citation method is used as a relevant alternative for the development of an integrated journal ranking that includes both international business journals and functional discipline journals. By application of this method, the study provides objective information concerning the journals that influence international textbook authors, and therefore student awareness of issues in international business.

Cannonical [sic] Confusions, an Illusory Allusion, and More: A Critique of Haggbloom, et al.'s List of Eminent Psychologists (2002)

The analysis by Haggbloom, et al. (2002) establishing a list of the most eminent psychologists of the 20th century contains significant errors. In one case the achievements of Walter B. Cannon are misattributed to W. Gary Cannon. Other errors are eponyms misattributed to Margaret F. Washburn, Morton Deutsch, Wolfgang Köhler, and G. Stanley Hall. A further mistake is to miscalculate the statistic for introductory psychology textbook citations for Hans J. Eysenck. These errors have consequences for the ranking of individuals on this list. Care must be taken to guard against such mistakes.

The 100 Most Eminent Psychologists of the 20th Century

A rank-ordered list was constructed that reports the first 99 of the 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century. Eminence was measured by scores on 3 quantitative variables and 3 qualitative variables. The quantitative variables were journal citation frequency, introductory psychology textbook citation frequency, and survey response frequency. The qualitative variables were National Academy of Sciences membership, election as American Psychological Association (APA) president or receipt of the APA Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award, and surname used as an eponym. The qualitative variables were quantified and combined with the other 3 quantitative variables to produce a composite score that was then used to construct a rank-ordered list of the most eminent psychologists of the 20th century.

Core Journals in Economics

This article ranks core journals in economics using the textbook citation method. Rankings are produced from citations in graduate‐level microeconomics, macroeconomics, and econometrics textbooks. Textbooks used in the study were chosen through responses from a survey of professors in top‐tier economics departments. The top nine journals or core journals from this study correlate closely in rank with the results of two comparison studies. Second‐tier journals identified in this study correlate less closely in rank with second‐tier journals in comparison studies.

Core authors and rankings in economics

This study ranks contributors to the economics profession using the textbook citation method. A survey of professors in 35 top-tier departments of economics produced a list of the most often used graduate-level microeconomics, macroeconomics, and econometrics texts. The textbooks identified from the survey are evaluated in this study for citations to journal articles. Authors of journal articles cited in textbooks are ranked according to the number of times their works are cited in textbooks. The results are compared to the findings of recent studies using different methods. Different methodologies are found to produce significantly different results.

USING CITATION COUNTS IN CRIMINOLOGY AS MEASURES OF INTELLECTUAL INFLUENCE: A COMMENT ON WRIGHT AND SOMA, MYSELF, AND OTHERS

ABSTRACT Wright and Soma recently published a piece in the Journal of Crime and Justice which used citation counts in American criminology textbooks as measures of cited scholars’ intellectual influence. This comment questions such use of citation not only by Wright and Soma, but others as well, including myself. Drawing from a considerable literature in the sociology of science, I address the general problems associated with using citation as a measure of intellectual influence and the particular problems found in using textbook citations for that purpose.

Individual Productivity and Impact in Developmental Psychology

Individual eminence in developmental psychology was examined through a textbook citation analysis conducted on 10 current textbooks. For the 285 leading authors in this textbook citation study, data on individual research productivity in psychology (from 1983 to 1991) and on a subset of six journals of special importance for developmental psychology were obtained from the PsycLIT data base. An estimate of the scholarly impact of these authors was obtained from citation counts from the 1988-1991 volumes of the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI). The diversity of research interests (e.g., cognitive and social development, public policy) and age groups currently studied by developmental psychologists are reflected in the list of top contributors. The development of the discipline could be described through future productivity studies such as this one.

Torsten Hus�n: A case of ethnocentrism in U.S. educational research?

This paper documents and discusses the lack of reference by U.S. educational researchers to the work of noted Swedish social scientist and educational researcher, Torsten Husen. The paucity of U.S. textbook or journal citations of Husen's writings and research is interpreted as an example of “cultural ethnocentrism” and “academic imperialism” in U.S. educational and psychological research. Crosscultural perspectives, interdisciplinary analyses, and “global learning” are proposed as methods of overcoming the methodological parochialism, overspecialization, and international fragmentation Husen describes as characteristic of much educational and social scientific research.

Rating journals in health care administration by the textbook citation method.

termined by a complex process involving the opinions of scholars, researchers, consumers of scientific information, the opinions of media sources, and the development of scientific knowledge over time. The study of the reputations of journals is a complex affair, involving differing methodologies. In a recent article published in Medical Care, Brooks, Walker and Szorady1 rate journals in health care administration. The rating of journals is accomplished according to the perceptions of program chairpersons in health care administration. A total of 52

Individual Productivity and Impact in Counseling Psychology

Individual eminence in counseling psychology was examined through a textbook citation analysis conducted on four current textbooks and the three most recent Annual Review of Psychology chapters on counseling psychology. For the 223 leading authors in this textbook citation study, data on individual research productivity in psychology (from 1980 to 1990), and on a subset of eight journals of special importance for counseling psychology (also from 1980-1990) was obtained from the PsycLIT data base. An estimate of the scholarly impact of these authors was obtained from citation counts from the 1987 through 1990 volumes of the Social Sciences Citation Index.

Eminence in Social Psychology: A Comparison of Textbook Citation, Social Sciences Citation Index, and Research Productivity Rankings

Individual eminence in social psychology was examined through a textbook citation analysis conducted on eight current (1987-1990) social psychology textbooks. These data were subsequently compared with data collected from an assessment of individual research productivity in psychology for the decade of the 1980s based on publications listed in the PsycINFO database and citation counts from the 1987-1989 volumes of the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI). Comparisons were made between the textbook citation results and findings from three previous related studies. The results revealed significant relationships between the different citation measures and between the research productivity and SSCI citation measure but not between the textbook citation and research productivity measures. The relative validity of each of the measures used in the study as an index of scientific eminence is discussed.

Evaluating the Collection of a Two-Year Branch Campus by Using Textbook Citations

Evaluating the Collection of a Two-Year Branch Campus by Using Textbook Citations

Big bangs in perception: The most often cited authors and publications

Textbook citations identified historically important writers and publications in the psychology of perception. The influence of these writers and publications on present research was gauged from citations appearing in the current journal literature.