Author-Level Eigenfactor Metrics: Evaluating the Influence of Authors, Institutions and Countries Within the SSRN Community

Abstract

In this paper, we show how the Eigenfactor(R) score, originally designed for ranking scholarly journals, can be adapted to rank the scholarly output of authors, institutions, and countries based on authorlevel citation data. Using the methods described herein, we provide Eigenfactor rankings for 84,808 disambiguated authors of 240,804 papers in the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) — a pre and post-print archive devoted to the rapid dissemination of scholarly research in the social sciences and humanities. As an additive metric, the Eigenfactor scores are readily computed for collectives such as departments or institutions as well. We show that a collective’s Eigenfactor score can be computed either by summing the Eigenfactor scores of its members, or by working directly with a collective-level cross-citation matrix. To illustrate, we provide Eigenfactor rankings for institutions and countries in the SSRN repository. With a network-wide comparison of Eigenfactor scores and download tallies, we demonstrate that Eigenfactor scores provide information that is both different from and complementary to that provided by download counts. We see author-level ranking as one filter for navigating the scholarly literature, and note that such rankings generate incentives for more open scholarship, as authors are rewarded for making their work available to the community as early as possible and prior to formal publication.

NOTE: Because of the incompleteness of the SSRN CiteReader data at this time, please check back at this URL for updated versions of this paper for updated results over the next 2 years. In addition, when citing this paper please include the following: Data as of March 14, 2011.

Keywords: Eigenfactor Metrics, Author-Level Eigenfactor Score, SSRN, Author Rankings, Institutional Rankings, Citation Networks

JEL Classification: A14, Z00