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Relative citation rate
Definition
The relative citation rate indicator (expressed as a positive number) is defined as:
the relative impact index of an actor (institution, country, etc.) in a given period of time and within a given frame of reference (world for example) proportional to the actor's expected impact index for the same period and within the same frame of reference.
The relative citation rate expresses the individual impact of publications compared to the average impact of the journals where the publications appeared. For a given actor, it shows whether the actor is cited more or less than the average of the journals in which the actor's publications appear. It is an indicator that takes into specific account the choice of journals by the actor for its publications, and it enables an actor to identify possible over-visibility or under-visibility of its publications compared to the journal overall.
N.B. When the RCR indicator is greater than 1 the actor enjoys a greater visibility than the average of all articles published in the journals in which its articles appear.
Example
Expected impact index and relative citation rate for publications of institution X at the world level by scientific field in fractional count (2002, 2003).
- Click to enlarge (taken from a bibliometric performance report)
Interpretation: The relative citation rate demonstrates that the articles of institution X in Biomedicine for 2003 were slightly less visible than were all the articles published in the journals in which its articles appeared taken as a whole (RCR = 0.98). In Fundamental Biology the RCR was slightly greater than 1 (1.02), indicating that the articles of institution X in this field enjoyed a slightly greater visibility than all the articles published in the same journals, taken as a whole.