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<p class="MsoNormal">In a recently published paper, Justin Flatt and his two co-authors proposed the creation of the Self-Citation Index, or s-index. The purpose of the s-index would be to measure how often a scientist cites their own work. This is desirable
the authors believe because current incentive systems tend to encourage researchers to cite their own works excessively.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In other words, since the number of citations a researcher’s works receive enhances his/her reputation there is a temptation to add superfluous self-citations to articles. This boosts the authors’ h-index – the author-level metric now widely
used as a measure of researcher productivity.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Amongst other things, excessive self-citation gives those who engage in it an unfair advantage over more principled researchers, an advantage moreover that grows over time: a 2007 paper estimated that every self-citation increases the number
of citations from others by about one after one year, and by about three after five years. This creates unjustified differences in researcher profiles.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Since women self-cite less frequently than men, they are put at a particular disadvantage. A 2006 paper found that men are between 50 and 70 per cent more likely than women to cite their own work.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">However, any plans to create and manage a researcher-led s-index face a practical challenge: much of the data that would be needed to do so are currently imprisoned behind paywalls – notably behind the paywalls of the Web of Science and
Scopus.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">More here: <a href="http://poynder.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/in-recently-published-paper-justin.html">
http://poynder.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/in-recently-published-paper-justin.html</a><o:p></o:p></p>
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