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Google Scholar Versions: Errors And Implications, Daniel S. Dotson

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Google Scholar combines versions of what should be the same item into a single record with multiple versions listed and a common citation rate for all versions. However, these versions are not always the same document. A study on the citations of theses and dissertations found unusually high citation rates for some titles. On closer examination, these titles had versions that were other formats, sometimes with additional authors. A close examination of highly cited theses and dissertations revealed that nearly half of the titles were considered versions of other different formats, often much shorter and sometimes multi-authored journal articles.