Diffusion of scientific credits and the ranking of scientists
Radicchi, F, Fortunato, S, Markines, B, Vespignani, APhys. Rev. E 80, 056103 (2009)
Times cited: 97
Abstract
Recently, the abundance of digital data is enabling the implementation
of graph-based ranking algorithms that provide system level analysis
for ranking publications and authors. Here, we take advantage of the
entire Physical Review publication archive (1893-2006) to construct
authors’ networks where weighted edges, as measured from opportunely
normalized citation counts, define a proxy for the mechanism of
scientific credit transfer. On this network, we define a ranking method
based on a diffusion algorithm that mimics the spreading of scientific
credits on the network. We compare the results obtained with our
algorithm with those obtained by local measures such as the citation
count and provide a statistical analysis of the assignment of major
career awards in the area of physics. A website where the algorithm is
made available to perform customized rank analysis can be found at the
address http://www.physauthorsrank.org.