Using Citation Indexes, Citation Searching, and Bibliometrics To Improve Chemistry Scholarship, Research, and Administration

Citation searching and bibliometrics are terms foreign to many chemists and educators, yet well-known and used by librarians and information specialists. This article aims to help chemistry students, educators, and other readers of this Journal to better appreciate and use these powerful and profound methods. Although these subjects have been described previously, several developments in the methods and new alternative metrics have occurred in the intervening 16 years, so the field is being reviewed again. Citation practices have also contributed to the study of bibliometrics which is used to evaluate publications, authors, and journals.