Can web citations be a measure of impact? An investigation of journals in the life sciences

We examine traditional and Web citations to journal articles in biology and genetics. There is significant correlation between citations in these two formats. Journals with higher numbers of Web citations tend to have more citations indicating intellectual impact (citations from papers or class readings, in contrast to citations from bibliographic services or the author's or journal's home page). Web citations show a broader geographic coverage and capture a greater number and variety of uses of journal articles.

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