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Competence Centre for Bibliometrics

Merely 20 years ago, bibliometrics were exotic to such an extent that at best experts dealt with it. Today, bibliometric indicators such as the Journal Impact Factor or the h-index are by default provided by large literature databases and have found their way into evaluation, steering, and funding processes. This made a proficient handling and interpretation of such indicators indispensable. However, the development of bibliometric competencies and of advanced methods and indicators has not kept pace with the rapidly growing diffusion of their use.

In 2009 the Competence Centre for Bibliometrics was founded in order to eliminate these deficits and to keep up with the international developments. Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research the iFQ – Institute for Research Information and Quality Assurance (coordinator), the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI, the Bielefeld University, and the FIZ Karlsruhe – Leibniz Institute for Information Infrastructure combined their competencies in the form of a consortium. The objective of this collaboration was the construction of an in-house database referring to the literature databases "Scopus" (Elsevier) and "Web of Science" (Thomson Reuters). Based on quality control, contortion callipers, unification of author names and addresses the data stock was corrected and extended. On this basis, the Competence Centre for Bibliometrics started several research projects for the definition of new quality standards in bibliometrics and the development of advanced indicators. Furthermore, the consortium members initiated specialised bibliometric projects on collaboration analysis, impact measurement, publication strategies etc.

Since 2014 the GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, the Max Planck Society, and the Forschungszentrum Jülich joined the Competence Centre for Bibliometrics. The main objective is now to make the database a permanent research infrastructure which is open to new services and applications. The iFQ aims to use the Competence Centre for Bibliometrics to strengthen its research activities in the general field of indicators, methods, and bibliometrics. The iFQ focuses on the development of indicators, quality assurance and quality assessment, subject classification, and network analysis.

Duration: December 2008 – December 2016
Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research
Contact persons: Dr. Sybille Hinze, Paul Donner
Further information: Homepage of the Competence Centre for Bibliometrics