citedby

Cited by is a bibliometric term for the number of times a scholarly work has been cited by other publications. It is used to gauge influence, trace the impact of ideas, and construct citation networks that map the spread of knowledge. In digital bibliographic databases, "cited by" appears as a link or count on a given record.

In practice, major databases display cited-by data with varying coverage. Google Scholar shows a "Cited by" line with a clickable number leading to a list of citing documents. Scopus and Web of Science offer similar counts and accompanying lists of citing items. Other sources such as Crossref and Dimensions provide citation data drawn from their respective indexes. Because coverage differs across databases, the same work can have different cited-by counts in different systems, especially across disciplines and publication types.

Uses of cited-by data include quick assessments of impact, construction of literature networks, and bibliometric analyses for researchers, libraries, and funding bodies. Analysts may examine who cites a work, how influence spreads over time, and how ideas propagate through fields.

Limitations should be noted: counts are influenced by field size, age of the publication, and indexing coverage. They can be affected by self-citation or disciplinary practices, and they do not measure quality or methodological rigor. Citation tallies accumulate over time, so newer works naturally have fewer citations.

Best practices involve using cited-by alongside other metrics (such as field-normalized indicators, h-index, or altmetrics), applying appropriate time windows, and considering field-specific norms. The term contrasts with the references a work lists, which are the sources it itself cites.