Page 191 - JOURNAL OF LIBRARY SCIENCE IN CHINA 2018 Vol. 42

190 Journal of Library Science in China, Vol. 8, 2016

S-shaped and undergoes three stages (i.e.,slow,rapid,and slow growth). The curves of the
received citations in four disciplines exhibit an arch shape (i.e.,the middle is high and the end
is low). The cumulative phenomenon of received citations is not obvious. The received citations
strongly differ across different fields and over time. 2)About the citation and uncitedness
characteristic of papers published in different years. Firstly,the average of the received citations
in a given year window changes identically,initially increases rapidly,and then slightly decreases
in the recent years. The average of the received citations exhibits significant differences among
the four disciplines in different time spans. In one-,two-,and three-year time window,a
maximum value is observed in LIS in each published year. The value slowly decreases and the
LIS obtains a minimum value within the 10-year windows. However,Physics and Mechanical
Engineering exhibit a totally opposite change. Secondly,the uncitedness rate generally decreases
in the early stages of the study period,but stabilises or even increases slightly in recent years.
The uncitedness rates in the one-year window are relatively stable,but decrease rapidly in the
two-year window and drop sharply in the five-year window. 3)About the citation characteristic
of papers cited in different years. Notable differences exist among the trends of the mean of the
received citations of the different fields. The maximum values of the average of the received
citations peak after seven years for Mechanical Engineering,nine years for Philosophy,and
three years for both Physics and LIS. Thus,those higher values of citations for Mechanical
Engineering and Philosophy are not captured in calculating Two-year Journal Impact Factors.
Moreover,present findings also suggest that results of the received citations obtained for a
specific field should not be generalized at the micro level,nor used to describe exactly the
situation of other or larger fields. About the citation characteristics of papers cited in different
years,LIS citations are completely different from those of the other three disciplines. LIS
citations peak at two or three years and then slightly decrease in all cited years. The curves of the
other three disciplines are similar. Papers published in the early stages of the study period have a
later cited peak. Recently,all four disciplines indicate relatively consistent citation trends and the
citation behavior of Chinese scholars has been relatively steady.

The intermediary relationships within academic institution citation networks
①a *
CHEN Baitong & MA Feicheng

Current studies on knowledge exchange between academic institutions within citation networks
are insufficient. It remains even more unclear that how academic institutions play an intermediary
role in the process of knowledge exchange based on citation relations. This paper constructs
institution citation networks based on direct relations between academic institution nodes, in order

* Correspondence should be addressed to CHEN Baitong, Email: cypressb@126.com, ORCID:0000-0003-0855-0317