Counts of citations to scientific publications are among the most common indicators in bibliometrics and constitute quantifiable evidence of the significance and influence of research. Figure 2.2.1 tracks citations received by Greek publications between 2002 and 2016. According to standard bibliometric practices, data is presented in five-year windows, from 2002 through 2016. Each five-year window displays the number of citations to those publications produced within the designated time. 

In the most recent 5-year window, 2012-2016, Greek publications received 392,230 citations. The number is an all-time high, recording a significant increase relative to the 2010-2014 period.   

Figure 2.2.1

Throughout the 2002-2016 period, global trends demonstrate a significant increase in the overall citations counts both in the EU and the OECD countries. The growth rate of the number of citations to Greek publications has been consistently surpassing the EU and OECD baseline  (Figure 2.2.2). 

Figure 2.2.2

Rate of change: 1 + [(number of publications in year “n” – number of publications in year “n-1”)/ number of publications in year “n-1”]. The rate is 1, if the number of publications is the same across the years compared.

Accordingly, Greece’s share of EU and OECD citations has been increasing (Figure 2.2.3). For the 2012-2016 period, it amounted to 2.38% and 1.22%, respectively.  

Figure 2.2.3

An additional indicator of the visibility and impact of research, is the number of cited publications and its percentage (%) in the total publications output. The percentage (%) of Greek cited publications records a steady upward trend for the entire 2002-2016 period, reaching 72.9% in 2016. This is well above the EU (71.6%) and the OECD (71.1%) performance  (Figure 2.2.4).

Figure 2.2.4