Author Self-Citations
Recently, HeinOnline added a metric to Author Profile Page citation data: Self-Citations. This metric counts the cumulative number of times that an author has cited his or her own work. It is not factored into the overall ScholarCheck ranking analysis, nor does it affect the overall citation count.
About Self-Citation
Self-citation, which is simply citing one’s own previous work in a subsequent piece, seems to be a somewhat controversial yet also unavoidable practice. Self-citation is also discussed in terms of journals citing to work previously published in the same journal title, but the metric in HeinOnline currently applies only to individual authors.
In some fields, citation metrics weigh heavily upon individuals’ chances for promotion, grants, and tenure; obviously, citing one’s own work increases overall citation counts. This could be advantageous and reward those who abuse this practice. However, self-citation doesn’t impact legal scholarship in the same way, as citations are counted a bit differently. It is also fairly normal and quite common, especially in narrowly-focused fields and for scholars building upon previous work.
Because much of HeinOnline’s content is law-related, the new metric in HeinOnline does not affect the overall ScholarCheck ranking for authors. Self-citations are also not subtracted from overall citation counts and are there for informational purposes only.
To view an author’s profile, which includes all citation metrics, click the author’s name from search results or from within a journal issue’s table of contents.
Research the concept of self-citation in HeinOnline. For example, perform a proximity search in the Law Journal Library:
“self citations authors”~5 OR “self citations author”~5 OR “self citation authors”~5 OR “self citation author”~5
Results include relevant scholarship on this topic.
Perform a more general search for the phrase “self citations” and sort by Number of Times Cited by Articles to retrieve the most-cited article mentioning this phrase, which is coincidentally titled The Most-Cited Law Review Articles!
ScholarCheck Metric Summary
HeinOnline’s ScholarCheck tool ranks authors in HeinOnline based on the following metrics.
- Cited by Cases: This metric counts the cumulative number of times this author has been cited by cases available in HeinOnline or via Fastcase.
- Cited by Articles:This metric counts the cumulative number of times this author has been cited by other articles in HeinOnline. Citation sources include the Bluebook, Prince’s Bieber Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations, and the Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations.
- Cited by Articles (Past 10 Years):This metric counts the cumulative number of times an author’s articles have been cited by other articles in HeinOnline written in the past 10 years only. This is a “currency factor”. Citation sources include the Bluebook, Prince’s Bieber Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations, and the Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations.
- Cited by Articles (Past 1-2 Years): This metric counts the cumulative number of times an author’s articles have been cited by other articles in HeinOnline written in the past 12–24 months only. This is also a “currency factor”. Citation sources include the Bluebook, Prince’s Bieber Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations, and the Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations.
- Accessed (Past 12 Months): This metric counts the cumulative number of times an author’s articles have been accessed by HeinOnline users within a rolling 12-month period. In order to count as being accessed, the article must be clicked from either search results or by browsing to the article, or retrieved using the citation navigator.
These five metrics are weighted equally to calculate the overall ScholarCheck ranking. The new metric, Self-Citations, does not factor into the overall ScholarCheck ranking. This metric counts the cumulative number of times an author has cited his or her own articles in subsequently published articles.
Other Features Recently Added
- More Like This
This tool can be found in the Law Journal Library, ABA Law Library Collection Periodicals, Bar Journals Library, and Kluwer Law International Journal Library. When viewing an article in HeinOnline, the More Like This button gives users the ability to find similar articles. This tool uses a program which pulls out “interesting words,” as determined by an algorithm, from the article being viewed. Users are provided with a list of similar articles, based on the interesting words.
- Keyword Search Builder
This tool can be found within the Advanced Search option of the Law Journal Library, ABA Law Library Collection Periodicals, Bar Journals Library, and Kluwer Law International Journal Library. To use this tool, enter keywords into one or more of the boxes provided. Adjust the weight of each word using the boost factors. Users can also select a title to search within or enter a date range to narrow down the search results.
- Topics and Entities
Using the same natural language processing and machine learning tools as the More Like This feature, as well as previously categorized articles, topics were applied to all articles in HeinOnline. Entities were also extracted, including location, person, and organization. Search facets for this new metadata are available, enabling researchers to select material based on these criteria. Search results are also enhanced to include even more relevant articles.
- New Catalog Tool
Users can browse thousands of catalog subjects using the Subjects tool found under the Catalog tab within any database. The subject coding is at the title level and can be used to look for documents on a specific subject. These browsable subjects are driven from Cassidy Cataloging’s MARC records. Easily view the most popular subject listings by selecting ALL and browse by Count within the Subject tool.
- New Title Alerts
Users can receive an email alert when titles with certain terms or keywords are added to HeinOnline by simply saving their catalog search query to their MyHein account. Users can see saved search queries in their MyHein account along with a timestamp of when the queries were saved. Users can delete tags, sort them by title or date, and email them to themselves or someone else. When new titles are added to HeinOnline with these terms, the user will be notified via email.
- Author Article Access Alerts
This new feature is great for authors or those who follow the works of professors and colleagues. Users can receive email alerts when works by authors of their choice are accessed by other HeinOnline researchers. Click on an author’s hyperlinked name to be taken to their author profile page. From here, click Set up email alerts and check the box When articles are accessed on HeinOnline each month. Lastly, enter an email address. Each month, users will receive an email listing the author’s articles and how many times each article was accessed.
- Email Selected Catalog Search Results
This new feature is perfect for sharing title lists with students and colleagues. Simply email your catalog search results! Within catalog search results, choose the titles desired to be emailed by checking the boxes on the left side of the list. Then choose Email Selected Results from the drop-down box and click Save/Email. Users can send these titles to up to 10 emails. The selected results are immediately emailed to the address(es) provided.
- Citation Data Extraction
Users have the ability to download a CSV of ScholarCheck metrics for an entire institution. To utilize this new feature, enter the Law Journal Library and Browse by Author Profiles. When users click on the institution’s name, all articling authors who have enhanced their Author Profile will be provided below, as well as a link to download a CSV of ScholarCheck metrics for all of the enhanced profiles from the institution. A CSV is automatically downloaded when the user clicks on the link. All of the authors’ information is pulled into the CSV, where a user can sort/filter the information by any individual metric or by overall ScholarCheck rank.
- Restatement Section Locator Tool
This new tool, added to the American Law Institute Library database, helps users quickly locate a restatement section. To use this tool, choose the Restatement name from the drop-down menu and enter the section number. Users are then directed to the page on which the section begins.
- Similar Article Email Alert
Authors who write on particular subjects will love this feature! Users can receive email alerts when articles are added to HeinOnline that are similar to those written by a specific author. Use the Author/Creator field to search for an author’s name in the Advanced Search option of the Law Journal Library. Then, click Set up email alerts on the author’s page and choose the last option, When similar articles are published on the author’s works. Enter the desired email address and click Set up email alerts. Each month, if a similar article to the author’s works has been added to HeinOnline, the user will receive an email.
To access HeinOnline, please click here.