[AISWorld] Downside of impact factors: Scientists engaging in 'citation stacking'

[Robert Johnston]

John (and other is in this thread)

That is the prefect response. The whole issue is not about the accuracy 
of metrics, but the /appropriateness/ of metrics as a substitute for 
reading and understanding research.
A nice piece on this appeared in Nature recently here 
http://www.nature.com/news/halt-the-avalanche-of-performance-metrics-1.13553
It is good to see the issue is getting such high profile exposure.

Cheers Johno

Dr Robert B. Johnston
  
Mail: 81 Hunter St. Richmond, VIC, Australia. 3121
Email: Robert.Johnston at ucd.ie <Robert.Johnston at ucd.ie>
Mobile: +61 414 493 255
Skype: johno.home

On 23/09/2013 4:16 AM, John Artz wrote:
> Leon,
>
> This is an important point. My research is original and way out of the 
> mainstream. Hence impact factors do not serve me well. I was 
> complaining to one of our Deans a few years ago the use of impact 
> factors. His response was something along the lines of "How can I 
> evaluate your research if I don't look at impact factors?" My response 
> to that was "If you don't understand my research, you really shouldn't 
> be trying to evaluate it." I got one of those looks that I always get 
> when I point out the follies of academia.
>
> Regards,
>
> John
>
>
> On Sun, Sep 22, 2013 at 1:22 PM, Kappelman, Leon 
> <Leon.Kappelman at unt.edu <mailto:Leon.Kappelman at unt.edu>> wrote:
>
>     Some of our institutions have adopted or are considering the use
>     of impact factors as a metric for faculty performance.  Certainly
>     our current faculty performance measures are less than perfect so
>     it seems to be a suggestion worthy of consideration.  But impact
>     factors are not without controversy and apparently prone to
>     manipulation and questionable behaviors.  So before embracing
>     impact factors, consider that at least to some extent they are a
>     measure of what some might call "incestuous citation behaviors."
>      Not surprising since most all of us understand that when it comes
>     to human behavior, you get what you measure.  The big question is:
>     Do the positives of using impact factors, or any other metric or
>     combination of measure for that matter, sufficiently outweigh the
>     negatives?
>
>     Here is some of the "food for thought" that raised my eyebrows
>     enough to send this note:
>
>     http://www.nature.com/news/brazilian-citation-scheme-outed-1.13604
>
>     http://occamstypewriter.org/scurry/2012/08/13/sick-of-impact-factors/
>
>     http://retractionwatch.wordpress.com/2013/08/30/journal-retracts-two-papers-after-being-caught-manipulating-citations/
>
>     http://www.naturalnews.com/042152_citation_stacking_scientific_journals_dishonesty.html
>
>     Best wishes,
>     Leon Kappelman
>
>     *"Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom." -- Benjamin
>     Franklin *
>
>     ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>     Leon A. Kappelman, Ph.D.
>       Professor of Information Systems
>       Director Emeritus, Information Systems Research Center
>       Fellow, Texas Center for Digital Knowledge
>         College of Business, University of North Texas
>         Voice: 940-565-4698 <tel:940-565-4698>   Email: kapp at unt.edu
>     <mailto:kapp at unt.edu>
>     Founding Chair, Society for Information Management's Enterprise
>     Architecture Working Group
>     ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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>
>
>
> -- 
> *John M. Artz, PhD
> Webpages: http://home.gwu.edu/~jartz <http://home.gwu.edu/%7Ejartz>
> Email: jartz at gwu.edu <mailto:jartz at gwu.edu>
>
> *
> There are only 10 kinds of people in the world - those who think in 
> binary and those who don't.
> **
>
>
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