Publication Counts in Context: Normalization Using Query and Reference Terms in PubMed

This article discusses the extensive use of publication counts as indicators of trends in the scientific activities of individual researchers, research groups, and entire disciplines. However, with the growing number of articles in general, these counts might produce false impressions among scientists. We propose a straightforward yet effective normalization method, which enables further context of publication counts by using a query and a reference term. Additionally, an open access implementation is readily available on the PubMed Normalization website.