A farewell to the MNCS and like size-independent indicators. Issue 2 (May 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Abramo, Giovanni; D'Angelo, Ciriaco Andrea
• Is Part Of: Journal of informetrics. Volume 10:Issue 2(2016:Apr.)
• Page Start: 646
• Page End: 651
• Publication Date: 2016-05
• Subjects: Research evaluation -- Productivity -- Bibliometrics -- FSS -- University rankings; Library statistics -- Periodicals; Information science -- Statistical methods -- Periodicals; Bibliometrics -- Periodicals; Bibliothèques -- Statistiques -- Périodiques; Sciences de l'information -- Méthodes statistiques -- Périodiques; Bibliométrie -- Périodiques; 020.727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.joi.2016.04.006
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1751-1577

Abstract

Abstract: The arguments presented demonstrate that the Mean Normalized Citation Score (MNCS) and other size-independent indicators based on the ratio to publications are not indicators of research performance. The article provides examples of the distortions when rankings by MNCS are compared to those based on indicators of productivity. The authors propose recommendations for the scientometric community to switch to ranking by research efficiency, instead of MNCS and other size-independent indicators.