Semiometrics and Impact Calculations

McRae-Spencer, Mr D M and Shadbolt, Prof N R (2005) Semiometrics and Impact Calculations. In Proceedings 1st AKT Doctoral Symposium, KMi, The Open University, Milton Keynes.

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Citation analysis and journal impact factors are considered controversial yet have been a standard measure of research value for over thirty years. This paper considers the nature of citation, the arguments for and against the current approach to impact measurement based on citation count and proposed alternative measures. It is argued that most proposed alternatives are attempting to do the same thing: apply a value-based approach to the impact measurement, more subtle than purely counting citations. Parallels are drawn with psychology research and in particular the emerging field of Semiometrie, and it is argued that applying the semiometric approach to the area of citation analysis and im-pact measurement provides not only a method to unify the proposed alterna-tives, but suggests a future scenario of research measurement and impact analy-sis far richer than has previously been considered possible.

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