Special Education Google Scholar Metrics to Facilitate Career Development and Advance Impact

Author-level bibliometrics are one way to measure scholarly contributions. Such metrics are often calculated from journals indexed in the Web of Science (TM). Google Scholar more comprehensively reflects the contributions of special education scholars by including many more social science and education journals. The current study analyzed 348 publicly available Google Scholar profiles of special education faculty at 213 U.S. universities to explore currently available measures (i.e., citation counts, h-index, i10-index). Using descriptive statistics, quartile distributions, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), we identified several significant differences across variables based on academic rank and Carnegie classification with medium to large effect sizes. Currently reported metrics (i.e., citation counts, h-index, i10-index) advantaged scholars with higher academic rank and those working at universities with higher research activity. Suggestions are offered to support career development.

Automated summary

Author-level bibliometrics can be used to measure scholarly contributions, and Google Scholar provides a more comprehensive reflection of the contributions of special education scholars. This study analyzed publicly available Google Scholar profiles of special education faculty at 213 U.S. universities and explored current measures such as citation counts, h-index, and i10-index. The findings showed significant differences across variables based on academic rank and Carnegie classification. The currently reported metrics favored scholars with higher academic rank and those working at universities with higher research activity. Suggestions are provided for career development.