Field Normalization and Its Applications in Scientometrics Analysis

Typically, the basis of scientific articles assessment in scientometrics analysis is the citations count that an article receives. However, in such citation analyzes, differences in scientific disciplines, type and age of articles, and disciplines citation behavior in general are not considered. To deal with this problem, it is necessary to normalize the citation indicators. Normalization can be considered as a topic that deals with correction of citation indicators between scientific fields. Using normalization methods makes comparative evaluations of different scientific fields more accurate and fair. The purpose of this article is to explain the concept of field normalization of citation indicators, their application, types of field normalization methods (including cited-side normalization and citing-side normalization), and to examine some of the challenges associated with their use. This article provides some recommendations for the use of field normalization indicators such as FWCI by research institutions and universities. . . . . .