Science-Metrix, in collaboration with the Observatoire des sciences et des technologies, is proud to have contributed to the UNESCO 2010 World Social Science Report. The paper in question, co-authored by Science-Metrix CEO Eric Archambault, discusses the limits to consider when using bibliometric analysis to examine scholarly communication in the social sciences and humanities.
Three of those limits are:
- the lower proportion of social science and humanities journal articles compared to books and monograph series;
- social sciences and humanities literature’s ageing rate and its post-publication citation rate; and
- the local relevance of social sciences and humanities knowledge.
The choice of bibliometric databases to measure social sciences and humanities research is also discussed in the article.
Archambault E. and Larivière V.
The limits of bibliometrics for the analysis of the social sciences and humanities literature, In 2010 World Social Science Report: Knowledge Divides, Chapter 7. Competing in the knowledge society (7.2 Assessment and evaluation of research), Co-publication commissioned by UNESCO from the International Social Science Council (ISSC), ISBN: 978-92-3-104131-0, pp. 251-254.
[PDF] Executive Summary (3.7 MB)
[PDF] Full report (11 MB) – see pp. 251-254
