Citation Type Analysis for Social Science Literature in Taiwan

Abstract

Through citation analysis, this study explored the distribution of document type, language and publication year for citations in social science journals. Samples were research articles published in 2010 from first-rank journals, as assessed by the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Science Council and indexed in Taiwan Social Sciences Citation Index (TSSCI). The section in which citations appeared, namely introductions, methodologies, results, and conclusions, were also examined. Conclusions and suggestions are made based on the research results and interdisciplinary comparisons. For social science studies in Taiwan, the major findings are as follows: 1. Journals and books were the most cited materials, and English was the language of most citations. 2. Social scientists in Taiwan tended to cite materials published within 10 years with a citing half-life of approximately 11 years. 3. The ratio of articles following the IMRAD format was high in Taiwan social science journals. 4. Citations in these social science journals occurred most frequently in the introduction section, while they occurred least frequently in the conclusions. 5. Social scientists mostly cite to set the stage for their current studies. 6. The citation type is highly related to the citation location.