Title: Bibliometric analysis of aerosol research in meteorology and atmospheric sciences

Authors: Jing Zhang; Ming-Huang Wang; Yuh-Shan Ho

Addresses: China National Democratic Construction Association, Beijing, 100020, China ' Department of Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China ' Trend Research Centre, Asia University, Taichung 41354, Taiwan

Abstract: A bibliometric method was developed to investigate the aerosol research based on the papers from 1991 to 2009 in Science Citation Index Expanded, the Thomson Reuters. The analysed aspects covered scientific output and citation tracking on the basis of journal patterns; country; institute and author research performances. Improved indicators Peak-Year Citation per Publication and Relative Peak-Year Rate were applied. A significant share of the citation impact and the most cited articles distribution were identified. Lotka's law held good in author performance. Finally, the paper discusses the imperfect nature of the indicators and proposes complementary methods for research evaluation procedures.

Keywords: aerosol research; ISI; Science Citation Index Expanded; SCI; scientometrics; indicators; citations per publication; relative citation rate; bibliometrics; scientific output; citation tracking; research evaluation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.2012.049733

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2012 Vol.49 No.1/2, pp.16 - 35

Accepted: 13 Oct 2011
Published online: 19 Nov 2014 *

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