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THE WALTER & ELIZA HALL INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL RESEARC

Department of Experimental Medicine, Clinical Research Unit, ,
University of Melbourne - The Royal Melbourne Hospital

Director:
SIR MACFARLANE BURNET, O.M., F.R.S.
9th October, 1962

“Del Irving H. Sher,
Director of Résearch,
Institute for Scientific Information,
33 South Seventeen Street,

Philadelphia 3. Pa.

 

Dear Dr. Sher,

I was interested to hear about your Citation Index project
and to do a little analysis of the list of my own citations that you were good
enough to send. The most interesting feature to me was the continuing
reference to some early more or less classical papess in fields that I now
have only a minor interest in, I naturally missed most of these citations
in the originals.

Of the 26 recent citations 1957 onwards, my estimate is
that I noted about half in the originals but as I have not made a specific
note of most of them this can only be a reasonable guess.

~ My impression is that I should find the chief usefulness
of such an index in balancing the respective claims of 2 or more workers
for a given fellowship or position, or for election to an Academy &c.
In Australia I often find it very difficult to assess the st status of a man
working in a relatively small field in which there is inrelally no one else
in Australia who can give a fully competent estimate of his published work.

The Citation Index is at least an objective piece of evidence
that could often be extremely useful when assessments of this sort must be
made, I wonder whether, if the request were made by a research fund
granting agency in Australia, the information could be provided by your
organization in regard to say 20 applicants in the form

 

 

 

 

1960 1961 1962
A _C| A C/A C gQ,
Smith, A.B. {| 2 10/ 1 1] 0 0 ,

where A is the number of articles cited and C the. total number of citations?
I believe this would provide a rather grim but very valuable touch of realism

to some of our discussions,

There are, of course, many possibilities of injustice toa
given individual and the citation index would have to be used as carefully
as every other judicial instrument, but having regard to all its possible
weaknesses J] believe it could be very valuable. I hope you will succeed
in making it a standard working tool,

Yours sincerely,

fh Gua:

F.M. Burnet

   
  

Address: C/o ROYAL MELBOURNE HOSPITAL. POST OFFICE. MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, TELEPHONE: FJ 9177

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