<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><sec id="j_jdis-2019-0007_s_006_w2aab3b7b2b1b6b1aab1c17b1Aa"><h3>Purpose</h3><p>To design and test a method for normalizing book citations in Google Scholar.</p></sec><sec id="j_jdis-2019-0007_s_007_w2aab3b7b2b1b6b1aab1c17b2Aa"><h3>Design/methodology/approach</h3><p>A hybrid citing-side, cited-side normalization method was developed and this was tested on a sample of 285 research monographs. The results were analyzed and conclusions drawn.</p></sec><sec id="j_jdis-2019-0007_s_008_w2aab3b7b2b1b6b1aab1c17b3Aa"><h3>Findings</h3><p>The method was technically feasible but required extensive manual intervention because of the poor quality of the Google Scholar data.</p></sec><sec id="j_jdis-2019-0007_s_009_w2aab3b7b2b1b6b1aab1c17b4Aa"><h3>Research limitations</h3><p>The sample of books was limited and also all were from one discipline —business and management. Also, the method has only been tested on Google Scholar, it would be useful to test it on Web of Science or Scopus.</p></sec><sec id="j_jdis-2019-0007_s_010_w2aab3b7b2b1b6b1aab1c17b5Aa"><h3>Practical limitations</h3><p>Google Scholar is a poor source of data although it does cover a much wider range citation sources that other databases.</p></sec><sec id="j_jdis-2019-0007_s_011_w2aab3b7b2b1b6b1aab1c17b6Aa"><h3>Originality/value</h3><p>This is the first method that has been developed specifically for normalizing books which have so far not been able to be normalized.</p></sec></abstract>

PurposeTo design and test a method for normalizing book citations in Google Scholar.Design/methodology/approachA hybrid citing-side, cited-side normalization method was developed and this was tested on a sample of 285 research monographs. The results were analyzed and conclusions drawn.FindingsThe method was technically feasible but required extensive manual intervention because of the poor quality of the Google Scholar data.Research limitationsThe sample of books was limited and also all were from one discipline —business and management. Also, the method has only been tested on Google Scholar, it would be useful to test it on Web of Science or Scopus.Practical limitationsGoogle Scholar is a poor source of data although it does cover a much wider range citation sources that other databases.Originality/valueThis is the first method that has been developed specifically for normalizing books which have so far not been able to be normalized.

Normalizing Book Citations in Google Scholar: A Hybrid Cited-side Citing-side Method

Journal of Data and Information Science

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

PurposeTo design and test a method for normalizing book citations in Google Scholar.Design/methodology/approachA hybrid citing-side, cited-side normalization...

Normalizing Book Citations in Google Scholar: A Hybrid Cited-side Citing-side Method

Article Category: Research Paper

Published Online: Jun 07, 2019

Page range: 19 - 35

Received: Feb 04, 2019

Accepted: Feb 25, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jdis-2019-0007

Keywords
Google Scholar, Book citations, Normalization, Research evaluation

© 2019 John Mingers,Eren Kaymaz, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Normalizing Book Citations in Google Scholar: A Hybrid Cited-side Citing-side Method

Article Category: Research Paper

Published Online: Jun 07, 2019

Page range: 19 - 35

Received: Feb 04, 2019

Accepted: Feb 25, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jdis-2019-0007

KeywordsGoogle Scholar, Book citations, Normalization, Research evaluation

© 2019 John Mingers,Eren Kaymaz, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
Google Scholar, Book citations, Normalization, Research evaluation