Re: paper on citations

[Philip Davis <pmd8@cornell.edu>]

Perhaps a more accurate title for this article should have read:

"Confounding: how simple, bibliometric analysis can reveal 
spurious relationships with the citation process."

You will note that specific title words (like randomized trial) 
and acronyms (signifying large, multi-center trials) were 
associated with higher citation rates than titles with pediatric 
words (child(ren), infant), as well as titles with specific 
country names.

The citation association with longer titles may simply reflect 
standards in the proper reporting of medical trials, see:
http://www.consort-statement.org/consort-statement/title-and-abstract/

On a related note, I remember a similar article pondering whether 
humourous titles were cited any more frequently.

Punch line: they were not.

--Phil Davis


Joseph Esposito wrote:

> Fascinating article that was just brought to my attention by
> Highwire's John Sack via Twitter.  Here are the findings:
>
> "Results The number of citations was positively correlated with
> the length of the title, the presence of a colon in the title and
> the presence of an acronym. Factors that predicted poor citation
> included reference to a specific country in the title.
>
> "Conclusions These data suggest that the construction of an
> article title has a significant impact on frequently the paper is
> cited. We hypothesize that this may be related to the way
> electronic searches of the literature are undertaken."
>
> Here is the link:
>
> http://j.mp/cIjILZ
>
> The shortened URL is the one John used.  An interesting corollary
> question is how citations vary with referrals from social media, for
> which shortened URLs serve as a tracking mechanism.
>
> Joe Esposito