Down with High Citation Counts

It is noted that of two papers written by Milton Friedman at about the same time and making very much the same case, one is better than the other on all counts, yet cited far less often. It is suggested that this shows that a high citation count of a paper does not indicate its quality on any reason...

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Main Author: James Forder
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Association Œconomia 2021-09-01
Series:Œconomia
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journals.openedition.org/oeconomia/11565
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author James Forder
author_facet James Forder
author_sort James Forder
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description It is noted that of two papers written by Milton Friedman at about the same time and making very much the same case, one is better than the other on all counts, yet cited far less often. It is suggested that this shows that a high citation count of a paper does not indicate its quality on any reasonable understanding of that characteristic. It is further suggested that the picture is suggestive of the highly-cited paper being cited by some for not better reason than it has been cited by others. If that is correct, then far from showing the influence or importance of a paper, high citation counts then do not even provide reliable evidence of its having been much read.
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spelling doaj.art-e4b34bcb049344dcb8c41959353f2a4f2022-12-21T19:21:15ZengAssociation ŒconomiaŒconomia2113-52072269-84502021-09-0111346147110.4000/oeconomia.11565Down with High Citation CountsJames ForderIt is noted that of two papers written by Milton Friedman at about the same time and making very much the same case, one is better than the other on all counts, yet cited far less often. It is suggested that this shows that a high citation count of a paper does not indicate its quality on any reasonable understanding of that characteristic. It is further suggested that the picture is suggestive of the highly-cited paper being cited by some for not better reason than it has been cited by others. If that is correct, then far from showing the influence or importance of a paper, high citation counts then do not even provide reliable evidence of its having been much read.http://journals.openedition.org/oeconomia/11565Phillips curveFriedman (Milton)citation countsimpact factors
spellingShingle James Forder
Down with High Citation Counts
Œconomia
Phillips curve
Friedman (Milton)
citation counts
impact factors
title Down with High Citation Counts
title_full Down with High Citation Counts
title_fullStr Down with High Citation Counts
title_full_unstemmed Down with High Citation Counts
title_short Down with High Citation Counts
title_sort down with high citation counts
topic Phillips curve
Friedman (Milton)
citation counts
impact factors
url http://journals.openedition.org/oeconomia/11565
work_keys_str_mv AT jamesforder downwithhighcitationcounts