Handbook for Scientometrics: Indicators of science and technology development

The second edition of Handbook on Scientometrics is designed to provide an overview of the field of scientometrics. The Handbook describes the history of creation of the breakthrough concept of citation indexing by Dr. Eugene Garfield, and development of the first multidisciplinary scholarly citation index, the Science Citation Index. Application of scientometric tools and methods in research management and resource allocation is discussed. Authors survey various scientometric indicators relevant to individual researchers, journals, research institutions and whole countries. Authors explore new types of indicators, such as altmetrics, relationship between scientometric indicators and the nature of scientific communication, and various methods of visualizing scientometric information. Possibilities and limitations of various scientometric techniques are examined. Authors highlight the need for an informed and reasonable approach to the use of quantitative indicators for research assessment. The Handbook includes Russian translations of two research reports by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI). The Handbook is intended for use by researchers, science analysts, universities and research institutions administrators, libraries and information centers staff, graduate students, and the general reader interested in scientometrics and research evaluation.