Citations

This chapter presents the impact of African sociology through citations. A fundamental purpose of a publication relates to the impact it makes in the knowledge and public domains. Publications are generated not solely to create knowledge but also to enable others to make use of them. The impact of publications is therefore crucial in furthering knowledge in specific areas. Both are often connected to the quality and outlets of publications. A determinant factor in measuring the impact is the number of citations a publication receives. Citations at the same time are determined by certain other factors such as co-authorship and collaboration. Drawing on the literature to identify the influential factors of citations, this chapter empirically examines the relevance of those factors in affecting citations. Based on the analysis, models that can predict citations are developed.