Table 3.

Citation Caveats

No single resource is available for locating all citations to a publication.

Citations from a particular resource reflect only those publications that are indexed by the resource used for citation data—potentially a small pool of journal literature.

Citations for books and book chapters, conference abstracts, and gray literature are rudimentary.

Author self-citations and reciprocal citing by colleagues often inflate citation counts.

Citations do not reveal evidence of research impact such as synthesis into clinical applications or public health outcomes.

Citations are not indicative of meaningful health outcomes.

High citation counts do not equate to quality of research or greater influence.

Multiple versions of the same publication may affect citation counts.