Deflated, inflated and phantom citation counts

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to clarify some issues regarding citation indexing, analysis and searching. Design/methodology/approach - The paper begins with a discussion on an article in the D-Lib Magazine and then focuses on deflated citation counts and inflated and phantom citation counts. Findings - The combination of the inflated citation count values dispensed by Google Scholar (GS) with the ignorance and shallowness of some GS enthusiasts can be a real mix for real scholars. Originality/value - The paper offers insight into deflated, inflated and phantom citation counts.