Institutional self-citation rates: A three year study of universities in the United States

Using Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) data, this paper calculated institutional self citations rates (ISCRs) for 96 of the top research universities in the United States from 2005–2007. Exhibiting similar temporal patterns of author and journal self-citations, the ISCR was 29% in the first year post-publication, and decreased significantly in the second year post-publication (19%). Modeling the data via power laws revealed total publications and citations did not correlate with the ISCR, but did correlate highly with ISCs. California Institute of Technology exhibited the highest ISCR at 31%. Academic and cultural factors are discussed in relation to ISCRs.

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