Skip to main content
Log in

Authors and their citations: a point of view

  • Published:
Scientometrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This letter describes how a large number of citations for particular publications are pleasing but how a low number is not, especially when the author thinks that some of the latter publications are just as, if not more, important than the former. If an author looks up his/her citations in Google Scholar, he or she may be in for a shock. One might assume that one would be pleased with the recognition given to some of them as shown by the high number of citations, and disappointed by the lack of recognition given to others. Well, in my case, it is worse than that! I looked up the fate (in terms of the number of citations) of over 500 or so books and articles that I have published since 1964. Happily some of these have been highly cited. But, to my surprise, some pieces that I felt had made major contributions were hardly cited at all.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

References

  • Beard, R., & Hartley, J. (1964). Teaching and learning in higher education (4th ed.). London: Chapman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burnhill, P., Hartley, J., & Davies, L. (1978). Lined paper, legibility and creativity. Educational Research, 14(1), 62. (Extended version with illustrations in J. Hartley (Ed.) (1980). The psychology of written communication (pp. 82–91). London: Kogan Page.

  • Hartley, J. (1978). Designing instructional text (3rd edn, 1994). London: Kogan Page.

  • Hartley, J. (1981). Eighty ways of improving instructional text. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, PC-24(1), 17–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hartley, J. (2000). Legal ease and ‘legalese’. Psychology, Crime & Law, 6, 1–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hartley, J. (2005a). Is academic writing masculine? Higher Education Review, 37(2), 53–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartley, J. (2005b). Is this chapter any use? Methods for evaluating text. In J. R. Wilson & N. Corlett (Eds.), Evaluation of human work (3rd ed., pp. 335–356). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hartley, J. (2008a). Learning and studying. Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartley, J. (2008b). Academic writing and publishing. Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartley, J. (2008c). Are student voices genuine? Higher Education Review, 40(2), 63–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartley, J., & Betts, L. (2009). Publishing before the thesis: 58 postgraduate views. Higher Education Review, 41(3), 29–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartley, J., & Branthwaite, A. J. (1976). All this for 2%: The contribution of course-work assessment to the final grade. Durham Research Review, 37, 14–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartley, J., & Cameron, A. (1967). Some observations of the efficiency of lecturing. Educational Review, 20(1), 30–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hartley, J., & Davies, I. K. (1976). Pre-instructional strategies: The role of pre-tests, behavioral objectives, overviews and advance-organisers. Review of Educational Research, 46(2), 239–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hartley, J., & Davies, I. K. (1978). Note-taking: A critical review. Programmed Learning and Educational Technology, 15(3), 207–223.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartley, J., & Johnson, M. (2000). Portrait or landscape: Typographical layouts for information leaflets. Visible Language, 34(3), 296–309.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartley, J., & Jory, S. (2000). Lifting the veil on the viva: The experiences of psychology PhD candidates in the UK. Psychology Teaching Review, 9(2), 76–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartley, J., & Lapping, C. (1992). Do mature students of psychology perform as well as traditional-entry ones? An analysis of archival data. Psychology Teaching Review, 1, 76–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewison, G., & Hartley, J. (2005). What’s in a title? Numbers of words and the presence of colons. Scientometrics, 63(2), 341–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trueman, M., & Hartley, J. (1996). A comparison between the time-management skills and academic performance of mature and traditional-entry students. Higher Education, 32, 199–215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to James Hartley.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hartley, J. Authors and their citations: a point of view. Scientometrics 110, 1081–1084 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-016-2211-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-016-2211-z

Keywords

Navigation