| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 524032 | Journal of Informetrics | 2013 | 8 Pages |
Percentiles have been established in bibliometrics as an important alternative to mean-based indicators for obtaining a normalized citation impact of publications. Percentiles have a number of advantages over standard bibliometric indicators used frequently: for example, their calculation is not based on the arithmetic mean which should not be used for skewed bibliometric data. This study describes the opportunities and limits and the advantages and disadvantages of using percentiles in bibliometrics. We also address problems in the calculation of percentiles and percentile rank classes for which there is not (yet) a satisfactory solution. It will be hard to compare the results of different percentile-based studies with each other unless it is clear that the studies were done with the same choices for percentile calculation and rank assignment.
► Percentiles have been established as an important alternative to mean-based indicators for obtaining a normalized citation impact. ► Percentiles and percentile rank classes have a number of advantages over the mean-based indicators. ► There are still (minor) issues that have to be solved both on the side of the calculation of percentiles as on the assignment of percentiles to classes. ► It will be hard to compare the results of different studies with each other unless it is clear that the studies were done with the same choices for percentile calculation and rank assignment.
