Our research "Auditing citation polarization during the early COVID-19 pandemic" is now available in Quantitative Science Studies.
posted on November 10, 2024

Our research “Auditing citation polarization during the early COVID-19 pandemic” is now available in Quantitative Science Studies.

Summary

This study investigates the phenomenon of citation polarization in COVID-19-related literature during the early stages of the pandemic. As the surge in research volume led to a massive increase in scientific production, we analyze a large dataset of papers to show how this growth contributed to an inflation of journal impact factors and worsened citation polarization. We attribute this to factors such as the “first-mover advantage” of early publications and the influence of high-impact journals, highlighting the need for a more nuanced approach to measuring research impact in times of crisis.