What do citations count? the rhetoric-first model

Fluorine research in South Africa and four benchmarking countries: Comparative mapping and assessment

“…The combined databases cover comprehensively the most prestigious journals in the world in all fields of research endeavours and constitute a unique information platform for the objectives of this effort. The databases are used extensively for similar type of investigations (SALVADOR et al 2006;COSTAS et al (2005);LUWEL et al (1999); MOLATUDI et al 2006;POURIS, 2003;POURIS, 2007;CARAYANNIS et al 2004 and others) While the ISI databases are among the most comprehensive sources of readily accessible information on national research outputs, they have certain limitations that have been discussed extensively in the literature (OKUBO 1997;COZZENS 1989;5 CARPENTER 1981;GARFIELD 1979). However, in South Africa there is an effort by the educational authorities and the Universities administrations to publish mainly in the ISI journals.…”

Disciplinarity and the Rhetoric of Science: A Social Epistemological Reception Study

“…Citations provide access to the discursive constitution of disciplines in science, as long as one is prepared to stipulate their rhetorical character-specifically, as multivalent forensic metonyms: i.e., as figures of speech oriented toward truth-claims and capable of multiple interpretations by virtue of their referentiality (see Amsterdamska and Leydesdorff, 1989;Cano, 1989;Cozzens, 1989;Gilbert, 1977;Small, 1978;Wouters, 1999). It should be noted that pointed caveats about the limitations of citations as measures of scientific work have been issued (Edge, 1979;Ferber, 1986;Zuckerman, 1987).…”

Reward or persuasion? The battle to define the meaning of a citation

“…Each system can be expected to account for some of the patterns we observe in citations, and the interaction between the two may account for more. 39 For example, the 'Matthew Effect' -a process by which eminent authors are disproportionally rewarded simply because there are eminent (or cited simply because they are highly cited) -cannot be explained by either the reward model or the persuasion model alone. 40 For the Matthew Effect to take place, authors must have become prestigious by publishing useful and highly regarded papers.…”