Background We determine the occurrence of self-citations among 36 Chilean ecologists with the highest h index values recorded in Web of Science. Because the practice of self-citation is perceived as negative by inflating a given researcher’s impact factor, we evaluate if those ecologists (five of them having been awarded the National Prize in Natural Sciences) tend unduly to self-citation, or alternately, receive citations from others ostensibly because their peers recognize their theoretical and empirical output. Methods and findings We use a recently proposed self-citation estimate easily calculated from h index values recorded in the restricted-access Web of Science (Wos) database and the open-access Google Scholar’s (GS) Researcher Profiles and compare these metrics. Conclusions The Chilean ecologists showed low self-citation values, independently of their status as National Prize awardees. Their publications were highly cited by unrelated peers, likely on account of their novelty or quality. Among middle-aged (50–60 year) and young (< 50 year) Chilean ecologists open-access GS h index values are significantly correlated with those from WoS, thus rendering expeditious this method of citation assessment.

中文翻译：

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智利生态学家很少自引

背景 我们确定了 36 位智利生态学家中自引用的发生率，这些科学家在 Web of Science 中记录了最高的 h 指数值。因为通过夸大特定研究人员的影响因子，自引的做法被认为是负面的，所以我们评估这些生态学家（其中 5 位获得了国家自然科学奖）是否倾向于过度自引，或交替地获得引用表面上是因为他们的同行认可他们的理论和经验成果。方法和发现 我们使用最近提出的自引估计，很容易从限制访问的科学网 (Wos) 数据库和开放访问的谷歌学者 (GS) 研究人员档案中记录的 h 指数值计算出来，并比较这些指标。结论 智利生态学家表现出低自引值，独立于他们作为国家奖获得者的地位。他们的出版物被无关的同行高度引用，可能是因为它们的新颖性或质量。在中年（50-60 岁）和年轻（<50 岁）智利生态学家中，开放获取的 GS h 指数值与来自 WoS 的指数值显着相关，从而使这种引用评估方法变得快速。