Scientific journal publishers and omitted citations in bibliometric databases: Any relationship?

Omitted citations - i.e., missing links between a cited paper and the corresponding citing papers - are the main consequence of several bibliometric database errors. This paper investigates the possible relationship between omitted citations and publishers of the relevant citing papers. This relationship is potentially meaningful because: (i) publishers generally impose editorial styles, which could affect database errors, and (ii) some publishers may be more efficient than others in detecting and correcting pre-existing errors in the manuscripts to be published, reducing the risk of database errors. Based on an extensive sample of scientific papers in the Manufacturing Engineering field, this study examines the citations omitted by the Scopus and WoS databases, using a recent automated algorithm. Major results are that: (i) there are significant differences in terms of omitted-citation rate between publishers and (ii) the omitted-citation rates of publishers may vary depending on the database in use. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.