The Tyranny of Citations

Inside Higher Ed :: The Tyranny of Citations: "The analysis of citations — examining what scholars and scientists publish for the purpose of assessing their productivity, impact, or prestige — has become a cottage industry in higher education. And it is an endeavor that needs more scrutiny and skepticism. This approach has been taken to extremes both for the assessment of individuals and of the productivity and influence of entire universities or even academic systems. Pioneered in the 1950s in the United States, bibliometrics was invented as a tool for tracing research ideas, the progress of science, and the impact of scientific work. Developed for the hard sciences, it was expanded to the social sciences and humanities."