ESI Thresholds
The Threshold - ESI table displays the minimum number of citations received in a 10-year period that places an entity in the top 1% or top 50% of a research field.
| Entity | Fraction to Determine Threshold |
|---|---|
| Author | 1% |
| Institution | 1% |
| Countries | 50% |
| Journals | 50% |
Sample Report
According to the data presented in the following sample report, papers in the field of Materials Science by:
- the top 1% of authors received at least 618 citations in a 10-year period.
- the top 1% of institutions received at least 495 citations in the 10-year period.
- researchers in the top 50% of countries received at least 1662 citations in the 10-year period.
Papers published in the top 50% of journals assigned to the field of Materials Science received at least 975 citations in the 10-year period.
| Research Field | Author | Institution | Countries | Journals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Material Science | 618 | 495 | 1662 | 975 |
Authors
Citation counts are a form of peer recognition and generally reflect the dependence of the scientific community on the work of individual scientists. Arguably, highly cited scientists form the essential core of scientific community.
Counting Method for Articles and Citations
All authors on a paper are equally credited, and all citations received by a paper are equally credited to all authors on the cited paper. There are no restrictions on the citing items in compiling the citation counts, except that they are only recorded from Clarivate Analytics indexed journals.
Name Conflation
Scientists having the same last name and initials may represent more than one person; this is likely in the case of common surnames. The ability to separate names by field may disambiguate person X in field Y from person X in field Z. However, keep in mind that a listed name can still represent more than one scientist within the same field.
Name Variations
An author's name may have some variations:
- A name can be published with or without middle initials.
- Change in marital status may change an author's name.
- Variations in the spelling or format of a last name can occur.
For example, the author Alice J. De Vries may appear as Devries, A in one article and De Vries Alice J in another. ESI treats name variations as discrete author names, and while there is no proactive effort to reconcile variations, authors who want to make a reconciliation can contact Customer Technical Support for their region.
Institutions
Scientific research is performed within the context of an institution, so recognition afforded the individual researchers affiliated with that institution is reflected in the prestige and reputation of the institution as a whole. By aggregating publications and citations at the institutional level, we can measure the institutional output and prestige attributable to the affiliated researchers.
Counting Method for Papers and Citations
Institution counts are based on author affiliations given on the published papers.
- A paper is attributed to an institution if the name of the institution appears in at least one author address.
- If multiple author addresses contain the same institution, the institution is counted only once.
- All unique institutions on a paper are credited equally for the paper, and all citations received by a paper are credited equally to all institutions on the cited paper.
- There are no restrictions on the citing items in compiling the citation counts, except that they are only recorded from Clarivate Analytics indexed journals.
Name Conflation
Institutions with the same name may represent more than one institution. This might be a similarly named institution in some other geographic location. Examining highly cited papers for such an institution reveals whether institutions at different locations are involved.
Name Variations
Institutions may appear with different name abbreviations, so more than one entry may need to be consulted. In general, the name listed is as published with the exception of identified overt variants, changed to a preferred form, and added to a unification dictionary.
Unification Unifying the varying ways institutional names are given is handled through the WAAN system. In addition to this system, ESI uses aggregate system values that allow users to see output from all schools within a system, such as the University of California System (UNIV CALIF SYST), and individual schools in the ranking/results lists.
Institutional customers who want to view or alter their institution's unification should contact Customer Technical Support for their region.
Countries/Regions
Countries and regions vary in their level of scientific effort measured by publication and citation activity. The distribution of effort is uneven, and dominated by developed countries and regions. The level of activity is roughly correlated with GNP or other measures of economic output. Comparing countries and regions on a citations-per-paper basis can help correct for size (output) differences.
Counting Method for Articles and Citations
Country/region counts are based on institutional affiliations given on published papers.
- A paper is attributed to a country or region if the paper carries at least one address from that country or region.
- All addresses are considered, not only the address listed first.
- If a country or region appears more than once on a paper, the paper is counted only once for that country or region.
- All unique countries and regions on a paper are equally credited.
- All citations received by a paper are credited equally to all the countries and regions on the cited paper.
- There are no restrictions on the citing items in compiling the citation counts, except that they are only recorded from Clarivate Analytics indexed journals.
Country/Region Name Changes and Unification
Country/Region names in ESI are unified to align with names used in other InCites products. For example, Germany is listed as GERMANY (FED REP GER) to reflect the country's official name: Federal Republic of Germany. In addition, PEOPLES R CHINA is changed to CHINA MAINLAND and results reflect all data from addresses in the mainland area of China.
Journals
Journals vary widely in prestige, influence, and impact, which reflects in citation counts to a journal. ESI provides a long-term citation ranking for journals. You can consult Journal Citation Reports and make a comparison with short-term citation behavior.
Counting Method for Papers and Citations
Papers are attributed to their journal of publication. All citations received by a paper in a journal are credited to the journal of the cited paper. There are no restrictions on the citing items in compiling the citation counts, except that they are only recorded from Clarivate Analytics indexed journals.
Journal Name Variations and Unification
Journal names are unified to reflect name changes or journal mergers over the ten-year period.
