Self-Citations in Academic Excellence: Analysis of the Top 1% Highly Cited India-Affiliated Research Papers
Kiran Sharma, Parul Khurana
TL;DR
The study analyzes self-citation patterns in the top 1% of India-affiliated papers using Scopus data from 1947–2023, revealing that self-citations constitute about 6% of total citations and that self-citation patterns have grown over time. It finds domestic collaborations dominate the production of highly cited papers, while international collaborations contribute more self-citations and engage larger, more multidisciplinary teams. The decade 2011–2020 accounts for roughly half of the top papers and citations, with open-access papers comprising about one-fifth. The work highlights a nuanced balance between self-citation and broader scholarly engagement, offering implications for research evaluation and integrity in assessing impact.
Abstract
Citations demonstrate the credibility, impact, and connection of a paper with the academic community. Self-citations support research continuity but, if excessive, may inflate metrics and raise bias concerns. The aim of the study is to examine the role of self-citations towards the research impact of India. To study this, 3.58 million papers affiliated with India from 1947 to 2024 in the Scopus database were downloaded, and 2.96 million were filtered according to document type and publication year up to 2023. Further filtering based on high citation counts identified the top 1% of highly cited papers, totaling 29,556. The results indicate that the impact of Indian research, measured by highly cited papers, has grown exponentially since 2000, reaching a peak during the 2011-2020 decade. Among the citations received by these 29,556 papers, 6% are self-citations. Papers with a high proportion of self-citations (>90%) are predominantly from recent decades and are associated with smaller team sizes. The findings also reveal that smaller teams are primarily domestic, whereas larger teams are more likely to involve international collaborations. Domestic collaborations dominate smaller team sizes in terms of both self-citations and publications, whereas international collaborations gain prominence as team sizes increase. The results indicate that while domestic collaborations produce a higher number of highly cited papers, international collaborations are more likely to generate self-citations. The top international collaborators in highly cited papers are the USA, followed by UK, and Germany.