2.2 Citations

Citation counts to scientific publications were among the most common indicators in bibliometrics and constituted a quantifiable evidence of the significance and influence of research. Figure 2.2.1 tracks citations received by Greek publications between 1996 and 2010. According to standard bibliometric practices, data is presented in five-year moving windows, from 1996 through to 2010, –a reliable form of representation for citation trends throughout time–. Each five-year window displays the number of citations to those publications produced within the designated time.

Between 1996 and 2010, global trends demonstrated a significant increase in the overall citations counts, both in the EU and the OECD countries. This has been a result of the intense networking activities of the research community and of the wide scientific knowledge diffusion across borders.

Throughout this period, Greece had a satisfactory performance. In the last 5-year window, 2006-2010, Greek publications received 277,130 citations, –4 times more than those received in 1996-2000–. In addition, the growth rate of the number of citations to Greek publications surpassed the EU and OECD baseline (Figure 2.2.2). Accordingly, Greece’s share of EU and OECD citations increased (Figure 2.2.3): in 2006-2010 was equal to 2.17% and 0.90%, respectively.  

Figure 2.2.1

Figure 2.2.2

Rate of change: 1 + [(number of publications in year “n” – number of publications in year “n-1”)/ number of publications in year “n-1”]. The rate is 1, if the number of publications is the same across the years compared.

Figure 2.2.3

An additional important indicator of visibility and impact of research is the number of cited publications and its percentage (%) in the total publications output. The percentage (%) of Greek cited publications presented a steady upward trend between 1996-2010, reaching up to 65.6% in 2010 (Figure 2.2.4).

Figure 2.2.4

 

[n1] reference