SummaryBased on the transform
function model of the observed citing process, the analytical expression of the
age distribution of citations is deduced, and it is theoretically proved that
the peak value of the citation distribution curve would fall and shift backward
along with increasing the average publication delay and the peak age has a
direct proportion relation with the pure delay and would be prolonged along
with increasing the delay or decreasing the aging rate. The influence of the
average publication delay on three ISI indicators impact factor, immediacy
index and cited half-life are studied; in one subject discipline, the bigger
the delay, the lower the three indicators of journals. Using the sensitivity
theory, sensitivity formulae of the three indicators to publication delay
parameters are deduced and it is found that responses of these indicators to
changes of publication delays are different according to different time
constant of the aging process; The faster the aging rate of a discipline
literature is, the worse the influence of publication delays on the indicators
of journals in the discipline.
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