TY - JOUR AB - Purpose The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze the influence of the algorithm used on scholarly search engines (Garfield’s algorithm) and propose metrics to improve it so that science could be based on a more democratic way.Design/methodology/approach This paper used a snow-ball approach to collect data that allowed identifying the history and the logic behind the Garfield’s algorithm. It follows on excerpting the foundation of existing algorithm and databases of major scholarly search engine. It concluded proposing new metrics so as to surpass restraints and to democratize the scientific discourse.Findings This paper finds that the studied algorithm currently biases the scientific discourse toward a narrow perspective, while it should take into consideration several researchers’ characteristics. It proposes the substitution of the h-index by the number of times the scholar’s most cited work has been cited. Finally, it proposes that works in languages different than English should be included.Research limitations/implications The broad comprehension of any phenomena should be based on multiple perspectives; therefore, the inclusion of diverse metrics will extend the scientific discourse.Practical implications The improvement of the existing algorithm will increase the chances of contact among different cultures, which stimulate rapid progress on the development of knowledge.Originality/value The value of this paper resides in demonstrating that the algorithm used in scholarly search engines biases the development of science. If updated as proposed here, science will be unbiased and bias aware. VL - 54 IS - 4 SN - 2531-0488 DO - 10.1108/RAUSP-05-2019-0079 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/RAUSP-05-2019-0079 AU - Sinay Laura AU - Sinay Maria Cristina Fogliatti de AU - Carter Rodney William (Bill) AU - Martins Aurea PY - 2019 Y1 - 2019/01/01 TI - Reflections about Garfield’s algorithm T2 - RAUSP Management Journal PB - Emerald Publishing Limited SP - 548 EP - 558 Y2 - 2024/09/22 ER -