The mismeasure of science: Citation analysis

For several decades we, among others, have criticized the use of citations for evaluative purposes. Although these criticisms have been noted, they have been largely brushed aside or ignored, not addressed head on. This may be for a number of reasons, but we believe the main one is that these criticisms undermine the desire to have an easy “scientific”—that is, quantitative—method of evaluation. Consequently, we continue and update our criticism of the use of citations for evaluation.