KTH Bibliometric Report
To complement the Expert review and other data collected, a bibliometric analysis of KTH’s research quality was conducted. The aim of this study was to assess the current scientific potential of personnel presently employed at KTH; all publications produced during 2000–2006 by all members of research staff were assessed, whether accumulated when employed at KTH or elsewhere. The study was based on quantitative analysis of scientific articles in international journals and serials processed for the Thomson Reuters Web of Science versions of the Citation Indices (SCI, SSCI and A&HCI).
Key findings include:
- The citation impact of KTH papers is significantly above international reference levels: they receive 15 % more citation in their journals; this translates to a field-normalized impact of 31 % above world average.
- Several units perform well above global average and these units are found in almost all schools at the KTH.
- The citation impact of KTH researchers is globally competitive in areas such as “Signals and Systems”, “Communication Networks”, “Optics”, “Fiber Polymers”, “Mathematics”, “Computer Science”, “Fluid and Solid Mechanics”, “Urban Planning”, “Philosophy”, and “Biotechnology”. Citation impact is generally high in several large areas, e.g. “Computer Science”, “Signals”, “Chemistry” and “Materials Physics”.
- KTH papers occur about 50 % more often than expected among the top 5% most frequently cited papers in their subfields. Twenty-seven out of the 46 units have at least the expected number of papers in the 5 % category.
- KTH researchers contribute substantially to international scientific networks; 41 % of papers are the result of international collaborations. Many research units have a widespread geographical network and receive citations from all over the world.
While the impact of a UoA can be assessed by looking at the number of times its publications have been cited, it is important to keep in mind that there are limitations. The limitations of bibliometric analyses are discussed in detail in the complete report attached here. Results presented here should be used as a starting point for a deeper discussion on the positioning of research groups; especially if there is need for strategic change.