scientometrics

Scientometrics is a subfield of informetrics that studies quantitative aspects of scholarly literature. Major research issues in scientometrics include the measurement of the impact of research papers and academic journals, the understanding of scientific citations, and the use of such measurements in policy and management contexts.

In practice, there is a substantial overlap between scientometrics and other scientific fields, including information systems, information science, the science of science policy, the sociology of science, and metascience. Critics have argued that overreliance on scientometrics has created a system of perverse incentives, producing a publish or perish environment that leads to low-quality research.