Citation age data and the obsolescence function: Fits and explanations
Information Processing & ManagementPublished 1 January 1992
Leo Egghe, I. K. Ravichandra Rao
Citations89
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score2.06
SNIP2.91
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TL;DR
LOUVAIN UNIV CATHOLIC, B-3590 DIEPENBEEK,BELGIUM, andEGGHE, L, UNIV INSTELLING ANTWERP,UNIV PLEIN 1,B-2610 WILRIJK, Belgium.
Abstract
The paper deals with the shape of the obsolescence function, which one can construct, based on the age data of reference lists. This paper shows that the obsolescence factor (aging factor) a is not a constant but merely a function of time. This jeopardizes this factor as a useful measure. We show (by experiment and also mathematically) that the function a has a minimum, which is obtained at a time t later than the time at which the maximum of the number of citations is reached. We then fit sets of citation data by using the lognormal distribution (other distributions do not fit well). Analytical calculations with this function a are indeed valid for these data. These arguments also yield a description of the utility function u and the total utility U. The latter can be used in comparing the "total lives" of the literature in various subjects.
Keywords
Decision Sciences
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