Citation Analysis part#3

A high volume of self-citation is not unusual or unwarranted in journals that are leaders in a field because of the consistently high quality of the papers they publish, and or because of the uniqueness or novelty of their subject matter. Ideally, authors reference the prior publications that are most relevant to their current results, independently of the source journal in which the work was published.

However, there are journals where the observed rate of self-citation is a dominant influence in the total level of citation. For these journals, self-citation has the potential to distort the true role of the tittle as a participant in the literature of its subject.

Eighty per cent of all journals listed in the JCR Science Edition have self-citation rates less than or equal to 20%. This shows that self citation is quite normal for most journals and id expected.

Significant deviation from this normal rate, however, prompts an examination by Thomson Reuters to determine if excessive self-citations are being used improperly, the journal's Impact Factor (IF) will not be published and the journal may be considered for deselection from the Web of Science.