B - History of citation-based research

Smith DR. Impact factors, scientometrics and the history of citation-based research. Scientometrics 2012;92(2):419-427
(doi: 10.1007/s11192-012-0685-x)

This article provides an overview of some key historical events of relevance to the impact factor since Garfield had proposed it over half a century ago. History has seen journal impact factors rise to become one of the most popular bibliometric product, and are one of the most controversial topics of the field. The author suggests that this debate will probably continue for a long time.
http://rd.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11192-012-0685-x

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