A Bibliometric Analysis of Highly Cited and General Papers in the Computer Science Field

This study explores the characteristics of the highly cited papers and general papers in the computer science field; papers by Taiwan authors are specifically analyzed and compared to the entire group of papers. Paper characteristics examined include their general features (e. g., citation conditions, journal impact factors, authorship conditions, etc.) as well as the collaboration and obsolescence conditions of those papers. Data about the highly cited and general papers from 1996 to 2006 are obtained from the Essential Science Indicators (ESI) and Web of Science (WOS) databases. Study results suggest that highly cited papers, mainly published by American and European authors, are cited sooner than general papers. Highly cited papers have higher rates of collaboration and international collaboration than general papers. Moreover, highly cited papers are cited for a longer period of time, while citations to general papers decrease rapidly. Papers by Taiwan authors have similar characteristics. But Taiwan authors published less highly cited papers; the average number of citations of general papers is also lower than that of the overall papers. This suggests the paper quality of Taiwan authors requires improvement.