The mathematical review system: does reviewer status play a role in the citation process?

This paper revisits an aspect of citation theory (i.e., citer motivation) with respect to the Mathematical Review system and the reviewer’s role in mathematics. We focus on a set of journal articles (369) published in Singularity Theory (1974 to 2003), the mathematicians who wrote editorial reviews for these articles, and the number of citations each reviewed article received within a five year period. Our research hypothesis is that the cognitive authority of a high status reviewer plays a positive role in how well a new article is received and cited by others. Bibliometric evidence points to the contrary: Singularity Theorists of lower status (junior researchers) have reviewed slightly more well-cited articles (2 to 5 citations, excluding author selfcitations) than their higher status counterparts (senior researchers). One explanation for this result is that lower status researchers may have been asked to review ‘trendy’ or more accessible parts of mathematics, which are easie...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: SCIENTOMETRICS
• Authors: Alesia Zuccalá
• Keywords: Lower Status, Lower Status Researchers, Reviews, SCIENTOMETRICS 2010