The impact of internet resources on scholarly communication: A citation analysis | Scientometrics
Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

The impact of internet resources on scholarly communication: A citation analysis

  • Published:
Scientometrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The quality and credibility of Internet resources has been a concern in scholarly communication. This paper reports a quantitative analysis of the use of Internet resources in journal articles and addresses the concerns for the use of Internet resources scholarly journals articles. We collected the references listed in 35,698 articles from 14 journals published during 1996 to 2005, which resulted in 1,000,724 citations. The citation data was divided into two groups: traditional citations and Web citations, and examined based on frequencies of occurrences by domain and type of Web citation sources. The findings included: (1) The number of Web citations in the journals investigated had been increasing steadily, though the quantity was too small to draw an inclusive conclusion on the data about their impact on scientific research; (2) A great disparity existed among different disciplines in terms of using information on the Web. Applied disciplines and interdisciplinary sciences tended to cite more information on the Web, while classical and experimental disciplines cited little of Web information; (3) The frequency of citations was related to the reputation of the author or the institution issuing the information, and not to the domain or webpage types; and (4) The researchers seemed to lack confidence in Internet resources, and Web information was not as frequently cited as reported in some publications before. The paper also discusses the need for developing a guideline system to evaluate Web resources regarding their authority and quality that lies in the core of credibility of Web information.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
¥17,985 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price includes VAT (Japan)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Antelman, K. (2004), Do open-access articles have a greater research impact? College & Research Libraries, 65(5): 372–382.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Casserly, M. F., Bird, J. E. (2003), Web citation availability: analysis and implications for scholarship, College & Research Libraries, 64(4): 300–317.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Davis, P. M. (2002), The effect of the Web on undergraduate citation behavior: a 2000 update, College & Research Libraries, 63(1): 53–60.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Davis, P. M., Cohen, S. A. (2001), The effect of the Web on undergraduate citation behavior 1996–1999, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 52(4): 309–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Friedlander, A. (2002), Dimensions and Use of the Scholarly Information Environment: Introduction to a Data Set Assembled by the Digital Library Federation and Outsell, Inc. Retrieved Sep. 20, 2008, from http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub110/contents.html.

  6. Harter, S. P., Kim, H. J. (1996), Accessing electronic journals and other e-publications: An empirical study, College & Research Libraries, 57(5): 440–456.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Herring, S. D., Use of electronic resources in scholarly electronic journals: a citation analysis, College & Research Libraries, 63(4) (2002): 334–340.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Hester, E. J., Heilig, L. F., Drake, A. L., Johnson, K. R., Vu, C. T., Schilling, L. M., Dellavalle, R. P. (2004), Internet citation in oncology journals: a vanishing resource, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 96(12): 969–971.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. International Institute for Management Development (2007), IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, IMD International, Lausanne.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Kumar, R., Kaur, A. (2006), Internet use by teachers and students in engineering colleges of Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh states of India: An analysis, Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship, 7(1): 36–48.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Mêgnigbêto, E. (2006), Internet-based resources citation by undergraduate students: A case study of library and information science students in Benin, The International Information & Library Review, 38(2): 49–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. National Science Board. (2006), Science and technology: Public attitudes and understanding, Chapter 7. In: Science and Engineering Indicators 2006. Two volumes. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation (volume 1, NSB 06-01; volume 2, NSB 06-01A). Retrieved Sep. 20, 2008, from http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind06/c7/c7h.htm

    Google Scholar 

  13. Newsweek (2006), The complete list: the top 100 global universities. Retrieved Sep. 20, 2008, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14321230/print/1/displaymode/1098

  14. OCLC. (2003), The 2003 OCLC Environmental Scan: Pattern Recognition. Retrieved Sep. 20, 2008, from http://www.oclc.org/reports/2003escan.htm

  15. OCLC. (2005), Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources 2005. Retrieved Sep. 20, 2008, from http://www.oclc.org/reports/pdfs/Percept_all.pdf

  16. Park, J. H. (2007), Factors Influencing Open Access Publishing. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Pew Internet & American Life Project (2006), The Internet as a Resource for News and Information about Science. Retrieved Sep. 20, 2008, from http://pewinternet.org/pdfs /PIP_Exploratorium_Science.pdf

  18. Rumsey, M., Train, R. (2002), Problems of permanence, accessibility, and stability in the use of web sources in law review citations, Law Library Journal, 94(1): 27–39.

    Google Scholar 

  19. The Thomson Corporation (2004), The Impact of Open Access Journals: A Citation Study from Thomson ISI. Retrieved Sep. 20, 2008, from http://thomsonscientific.com/media/presentrep/acropdf/impact-oa-journals.pdf

  20. UCLA Center for Communication Policy. (2003), Surveying the Digital Future 2003. Retrieved Sep. 20, 2008, from http://www.digitalcenter.org

  21. USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future (2004), Surveying the Digital Future 2004. Retrieved Sep. 20, 2008, from http://www.digitalcenter.org/downloads/DigitalFutureReport-Year4-2004.pdf

  22. USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future (2008), The 2008 Digital Future Project. Retrieved Sep. 20, 2008, from http://www.digitalcenter.org/pdf/2008-Digital-Future-Report-Final-Release.pdf

  23. Vaughan, L., Shaw, D. (2005), Web citation data for impact assessment: a comparison of four science disciplines, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 56(10): 1075–1087.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Wouters, P., de Vries, R. (2004), Formally citing the Web, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 55(14): 1250–1260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Yahoo and Hall & Partners (2005), Students Say Search Best Medium for Info. Retrieved Sep. 20, 2008, from: http://www.marketingvox.com/yahoo_students_say_search_best_medium_for_info-020125

  26. Zhang, Y. (2001), Scholarly use of Internet-based electronic resources, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 52(8): 628–654.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Information Management, Wuhan University, 16 Luojia Hill Road, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072, P. R. China

    Chuanfu Chen, Kai Sun, Gang Wu, Qiong Tang, Yushuang Fu, Xiaofang Wang & Jing Liu

  2. School of Information Studies, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA

    Jian Qin

  3. University Library, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA

    Kuei Chiu

Authors
  1. Chuanfu Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kai Sun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Gang Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Qiong Tang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jian Qin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Kuei Chiu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Yushuang Fu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Xiaofang Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Jing Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chuanfu Chen.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Chen, C., Sun, K., Wu, G. et al. The impact of internet resources on scholarly communication: A citation analysis. Scientometrics 81, 459–474 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-008-2180-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-008-2180-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation