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Openness index and affinity index: Two new citation indicators

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Abstract

This article discusses some design issues in the self-citing rate and the self-cited rate proposed by the Social Sciences Citation Index for journals. Improvements on the above measures lead to two new citation indicators—the Openness Index and the Affinity Index. These new indices could be expressed in terms of several components (self, own-field, other-field, overall). Each of these components indicates more specific citation situations of a journal. The application of these new citation indicators is illustrated in the measurement of some journal's characteristics in the field of communication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Journalism and Communication, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, (Hong Kong)

    C. Y. K. So

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  1. C. Y. K. So
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So, C.Y.K. Openness index and affinity index: Two new citation indicators. Scientometrics 19, 25–34 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02130463

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02130463

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