In academic writing it is a requirement that all information, discussions and arguments be accompanied by relevant citations. Citations are basically references to a former report, article or case used to support information in your paper. In scholarly research it is important to measure the value or importance of a publication by counting the number of times it has been cited or referred to by other scholars. The greater the number of times an article or work has been cited the greater the impact it has on a particular discipline.
The purpose of this guide is to give users general information on citation analysis and how to use tools to measure the impact of any publication.