What makes a scientific article influential? The case of demographers

Hendrik P. Van Dalen; Kène Henkens

doi:10.1023/A:1010510831718

What makes a scientific article influential? The case of demographers

Hendrik P. Van Dalen^*, Kène Henkens

^*Corresponding author for this work

Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI)

Research output: Contribution to journal/periodical › Article › Scientific › peer-review

Abstract

In this paper we examine, by means of a citation analysis, which factors influence the impact of articles published in demography journals between 1990 and 1992. Several quantifiable characteristics of the articles (characteristics with respect to authors, visibility, content and journals) are strongly related to their subsequent impact in the social sciences. Articles are most frequently cited when they deal with empirical, ahistorical research focusing on populations in the developed world, when they are prominently placed in a journal issue, when they are written in English and when they appear in core demography journals. Furthermore, although eminent scholars are likely to be cited on the basis of their reputation, the effect of reputation appears to be small in demography.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	455-482
Number of pages	28
Journal	Scientometrics
Volume	50
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010510831718
Publication status	Published - 2001

Access to Document

10.1023/A:1010510831718

Cite this

@article{f221c3a121054d3e8de2267ebf03f273,

title = "What makes a scientific article influential? The case of demographers",

abstract = "In this paper we examine, by means of a citation analysis, which factors influence the impact of articles published in demography journals between 1990 and 1992. Several quantifiable characteristics of the articles (characteristics with respect to authors, visibility, content and journals) are strongly related to their subsequent impact in the social sciences. Articles are most frequently cited when they deal with empirical, ahistorical research focusing on populations in the developed world, when they are prominently placed in a journal issue, when they are written in English and when they appear in core demography journals. Furthermore, although eminent scholars are likely to be cited on the basis of their reputation, the effect of reputation appears to be small in demography.",

author = "{Van Dalen}, {Hendrik P.} and K{\`e}ne Henkens",

note = "Funding Information: Comments by Aat Liefbroer, Frits Tazelaar, Evert van Imhoff and Frans van Poppel are gratefully acknowledged. Research was carried out with financial support from the Population Studies Program of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), grant # 18.071. Copyright: Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

year = "2001",

doi = "10.1023/A:1010510831718",

language = "English",

volume = "50",

pages = "455--482",

journal = "Scientometrics",

issn = "0138-9130",

publisher = "Springer Netherlands",

number = "3",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - What makes a scientific article influential? The case of demographers

AU - Van Dalen, Hendrik P.

AU - Henkens, Kène

N1 - Funding Information: Comments by Aat Liefbroer, Frits Tazelaar, Evert van Imhoff and Frans van Poppel are gratefully acknowledged. Research was carried out with financial support from the Population Studies Program of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), grant # 18.071. Copyright: Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2001

Y1 - 2001

N2 - In this paper we examine, by means of a citation analysis, which factors influence the impact of articles published in demography journals between 1990 and 1992. Several quantifiable characteristics of the articles (characteristics with respect to authors, visibility, content and journals) are strongly related to their subsequent impact in the social sciences. Articles are most frequently cited when they deal with empirical, ahistorical research focusing on populations in the developed world, when they are prominently placed in a journal issue, when they are written in English and when they appear in core demography journals. Furthermore, although eminent scholars are likely to be cited on the basis of their reputation, the effect of reputation appears to be small in demography.

AB - In this paper we examine, by means of a citation analysis, which factors influence the impact of articles published in demography journals between 1990 and 1992. Several quantifiable characteristics of the articles (characteristics with respect to authors, visibility, content and journals) are strongly related to their subsequent impact in the social sciences. Articles are most frequently cited when they deal with empirical, ahistorical research focusing on populations in the developed world, when they are prominently placed in a journal issue, when they are written in English and when they appear in core demography journals. Furthermore, although eminent scholars are likely to be cited on the basis of their reputation, the effect of reputation appears to be small in demography.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0000444366&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1023/A:1010510831718

DO - 10.1023/A:1010510831718

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:0000444366

VL - 50

SP - 455

EP - 482

JO - Scientometrics

JF - Scientometrics

SN - 0138-9130

IS - 3

ER -

What makes a scientific article influential? The case of demographers

Abstract

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this