Association of ResearchGate research influence score with other metrics of top cited sports biomechanics scholars

Abstract

Abstract Study aim: Scientific networking sites are increasingly popular in connecting researchers and providing influence metrics, however the research on measures like the ResearchGate Research Influence Score (RG RIS) are limited. This study documented the associations between RG RIS, usage, and prestige metrics from Google Scholar (GS), RG, and Scopus for top cited scientists in sports biomechanics. Material and methods: Research usage (total citations: C), prestige (Hirsch index: h), and RG RIS metrics were extracted from GS, RG, and Scopus for the top sixty cited scholars that used either the label “’73ports biomechanics” or “sport biomechanics” in their GS Profile. Results: RG RIS was strongly correlated (r = 0.796–0.895) with all usage and prestige metrics. There were very strong correlations among the three citation metrics (r = 0.929–0.967) and among the three h indexes (r = 0.960–0.974). Conclusions: The recent RG RIS does not provide unique scientific influence information about sport(s) biomechanics researchers beyond common citation metrics. The RG RIS was strongly associated with total citation and h-index values from GS, RG, and Scopus for top 60 cited sport(s) biomechanics researchers based on GS Profiles. The scientific usage and prestige factors previously reported in bibliometric research was supported by very strong associations among the three C and among the three h index values from these two scientific networking and one database service.