Citation‐based auditing of academic performance

Abstract

The use of citation data in evaluating the research performance of academic programs and individual faculty members is explored in the context of a 10‐year analysis of a single academic unit. The study controls for possible accounting bias by comparing results obtained using three differing approaches to allocating citation credit: straight, whole, and adjusted counts. Citation scores are correlated with salary, time‐in‐field, and gender. The results of the study raise serious questions about the validity of research rankings derived from perception studies. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Copyright © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.