What affects citation counts in MIS research articles? An empirical investigation

Abstract

In academe, the scientific impact of a given research article is measured by the number of citations that article has garnered. More citations for an article mean that more researchers have read and used the contents of that article in aiding research. Because of this, some research institutions consider the scientific impact of the works of a researcher in promotion and tenure decisions. Moreover, evaluating the causes of citations can help the community of researchers in a field gain insight into the values and direction of the field. Therefore, an investigation into the causes of citations is valuable to both individual researchers seeking to further their careers and also to the community of researchers at large. This study looks at two types of independent variables in determining the causes of IS article citations: universalistic variables (specific to the scientific contribution of the article) and particularistic variables (specific to the author and/or structure of the paper). Regression analysis finds that while both universalistic and particularistic variables influence the degree to which a paper is cited, particularistic variables are more influential in the IS field. © 2014 by the Association for Information Systems.