An Expanded Bibliometric Study of Articles on Emerging Markets

Abstract

Research Question: Bibliometric analysis of the literature on emerging markets aims to recognise the relationship between traditional metrics (i.e., citations) and alternative metrics (i.e., altmetrics) in this field. Motivation: This study is motivated by existing difficulties in measuring both the quality and societal effects of research papers. There are divided opinions among critics considering whether traditional metrics represent similar measures in comparison with altmetrics, or whether scientific and public attention are principally different categories. The study focuses on a specific field – emerging markets, considering that both opinions of scientists and the crowd are essential for driving appropriate societal changes. Understanding both metrics’ nature is crucial for their proper usage to support sustainable development efforts and link research project evaluation and financing in the field. Idea: The main idea is to examine the relationship between the number of citations and altmetric indicators and to determine the extent of overlapping individual papers/journals in the sample with the best ranking results in both categories. Data: The study uses data about articles on the topic of “emerging markets” exported from the Web of Science (WoS) database and expanded with altmetric indicators (either from providers Altmetric.com or PlumX, depending on the publisher). There are 3996 valid records collected during November 2019. Tools: This paper considers only altmetric indicators common to both providers. Analyses on the relationship of the number of citations and altmetric indicators (Pearson correlation and percentage of overlapping of top-ranked articles/journals) are performed across the entire sample or only considering selected records. Findings: Obtained results indicate that there is generally no significant relationship between observed metrics in circulation (except in the case of Mendeley). The same conclusion is reached by looking at 100 prominent individual papers in both categories in terms of overlapping, while the top 100 journals indicate a better overlap. The role of altmetrics is not to predict citation. Societal and academic impacts are rather different categories, and it is reasonable to consider the purpose of both metrics for initiating/enhancing development in emerging markets. Contribution: This expanded bibliometric study provides valuable information and orientation for researchers, journals, and academic institutions interested in emerging market growth, evaluation, and financially supporting related research projects.