Towards complexity-sensitive book metrics for scholarly monographs in national databases for research output
ISSN: 0022-0418
Article publication date: 2 April 2021
Issue publication date: 10 August 2021
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates an approach to book metrics for research evaluation that takes into account the complexity of scholarly monographs. This approach is based on work sets – unique scholarly works and their within-work related bibliographic entities – for scholarly monographs in national databases for research output.
Design/methodology/approach
This study examines bibliographic records on scholarly monographs acquired from four European databases (VABB in Flanders, Belgium; CROSBI in Croatia; CRISTIN in Norway; COBISS in Slovenia). Following a data enrichment process using metadata from OCLC WorldCat and Amazon Goodreads, the authors identify work sets and the corresponding ISBNs. Next, on the basis of the number of ISBNs per work set and the presence in WorldCat, they design a typology of scholarly monographs: Globally visible single-expression works, Globally visible multi-expression works, Miscellaneous and Globally invisible works.
Findings
The findings show that the concept “work set” and the proposed typology can aid the identification of influential scholarly monographs in the social sciences and humanities (i.e. the Globally visible multi-expression works).
Practical implications
In light of the findings, the authors outline requirements for the bibliographic control of scholarly monographs in national databases for research output that facilitate the use of the approach proposed here.
Originality/value
The authors use insights from library and information science (LIS) to construct complexity-sensitive book metrics. In doing so, the authors, on the one hand, propose a solution to a problem in research evaluation and, on the other hand, bring to attention the need for a dialogue between LIS and neighbouring communities that work with bibliographic data.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are extremely thankful for support, extensive consultations as well as access to data to Marit Henningsen and Sverre Bjarte Johnsen (CRISTIN), Jadranka Stojanovski and Bojan Macan (CROSBI), Lidija Curk (COBISS) as well as to the OCLC staff, particularly Rebecca Bryant and Jenny Toves. Similarly, the authors thank Janne Pölönen and Gunnar Sivertsen for their contribution to the design of the survey on databases and Alesia Zuccala and the University of Copenhagen for hosting LS. Thanks also to the reviewers for their helpful comments.
Funding: This work was supported by funding provided by the Flemish government to LS, RG, TE, through the Centre for R&D Monitoring (ECOOM) and the COST Action 15137 ENRESSH (through a grant for a short-term scientific mission) to LS.
Citation
Sīle, L., Guns, R., Zuccala, A.A. and Engels, T.C.E. (2021), "Towards complexity-sensitive book metrics for scholarly monographs in national databases for research output", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 77 No. 5, pp. 1173-1195. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-06-2020-0107
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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