Download vs. citation vs. readership data: The case of an information systems journal

Abstract

In our article we compare downloads from ScienceDirect, citations from Scopus and readership data from the social reference management system Mendeley for articles from the Journal of Strategic Information Systems (publication years: 2002-2011). Our study shows a medium to high correlation between downloads and readership data (Spearman r=0.73) and between downloads and citations (Spearman r=0.77). However, there is only a medium-sized correlation between readership data and citations (Spearman r=0.51). These results suggest that there is at least "some" difference among the two usage measures and the (citation) impact of the analysed information systems articles. As expected downloads and citations have different obsolescence characteristics. While the highest downloads accrue the first years after publication, it takes several years until the citation maximum is reached. © AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH Vienna 2013.