The citation maze: A beginner's guide

The variety of ways in which citations can be used in libraries is broad, sometimes confusing, and often poorly understood. Citation studies can, however, be classified into four general types: (1) Bibliometric studies conducted to determine which journals in a given field are the most important to scholars in that field, (2) Citation counting in order to assess an author's eminence, scholarly or otherwise, (3) Studies designed to describe or map the literature of a particular subject, and (4) The use of citations as a direct means of collection evaluation.