Researcher Performance in Scopus Articles (RPSA) as a New Scientometric Model of Scientific Output: Tested in Business Area of V4 Countries

Introduction

In contemporary academia, scientometrics plays a crucial role in evaluating scientific output and research performance. Traditional bibliometric indicators, such as citation counts and h-index, have been standard for assessing research impact. However, these approaches often fail to capture the multi-dimensional nature of scholarly contribution, particularly when applied to emerging research ecosystems like those found in Central European countries.

The Visegrd Group (V4) comprising Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia presents a unique context for scientometric analysis. These countries share historical ties and face similar challenges in their academic systems, yet exhibit distinct patterns in research development and international integration. Business research within these nations has undergone significant transformation following European Union integration.

This study introduces the Researcher Performance in Scopus Articles (RPSA) model, designed to address limitations of existing scientometric approaches. When applied to business scholars from V4 countries, RPSA provides novel insights into scientific collaboration, knowledge transfer, and regional research integration patterns.

Background and Literature Review

Scientometrics has evolved considerably since Garfield's (1955) work on citation indices. The h-index (Hirsch, 2005) represented advancement by balancing productivity and citation impact. Yet, citation-based metrics continue to face criticism for disciplinary biases, time-lag effects, and inability to capture broader forms of research impact (Waltman, 2016).

Business research within V4 countries has demonstrated growth in both quantity and quality over the past two decades. However, comparative studies have primarily utilized simple citation counts or journal impact factors as performance indicators, potentially overlooking important aspects of research contribution.

The RPSA Model

The Researcher Performance in Scopus Articles (RPSA) model was developed to provide comprehensive assessment of scholarly output by incorporating multiple dimensions of research impact. Unlike traditional citation-based metrics, RPSA evaluates research performance across five key dimensions:

1. Output Quality: Measured through quartile ranking of publication venues and citation impact relative to field benchmarks
2. Collaborative Reach: Assessed through international co-authorship patterns and network position
3. Disciplinary Impact: Evaluated through field-normalized citation metrics and topic diversity
4. Research Momentum: Determined through temporal patterns in publication output and citation accumulation
5. Societal Relevance: Measured through patterns in applied research outputs and policy citations

The RPSA score is calculated through a weighted algorithm considering these dimensions while adjusting for career stage, disciplinary norms, and institutional context.

Methodology

This study applies the RPSA model to business researchers from V4 countries indexed in the Scopus database. The methodology involved the following steps:

1. Identification of business-affiliated researchers from institutions in Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia
2. Extraction of publication and citation data from Scopus for the period 2010-2020
3. Calculation of traditional bibliometric indicators (citation counts, h-index) for benchmarking
4. Computation of RPSA components using the algorithm described above
5. Comparative analysis across countries, institutional types, and research specializations
6. Validation through expert evaluation by senior business scholars from the V4 region

The final sample included 1,847 researchers from 92 institutions, with a total of 12,453 publications meeting the inclusion criteria.

Results

Application of the RPSA model revealed important insights about business research performance in V4 countries:

The Output Quality dimension indicated that nearly 68% of publications appeared in Q3 or Q4 journals, suggesting challenges in reaching top-tier international venues. When adjusted for field-specific citation patterns, citation impact scores showed greater variation, with some areas demonstrating competitive international impact despite lower journal placement.

In terms of Collaborative Reach, researchers demonstrated varied patterns of international engagement. Czech and Polish researchers exhibited higher rates of co-authorship with Western European and North American institutions, while Hungarian and Slovak researchers demonstrated stronger collaboration networks within the V4 region.

The Disciplinary Impact analysis revealed that management science and finance achieved higher field-normalized citation scores than marketing or organizational studies, challenging assumptions about relative research strength based on publication volume alone.

Research Momentum patterns showed a significant positive correlation between recent publication productivity and career stage (R = 0.73), suggesting healthy research activity among mid-career researchers. However, citation accumulation patterns varied substantially.

Finally, the Societal Relevance dimension highlighted important distinctions between researchers working in applied industry-focused institutions versus traditional universities. Industry-focused researchers demonstrated significantly higher rates of policy citations and practitioner co-authorship.

Table 1: Top 10 Researchers by RPSA Score in V4 Countries

Rank	Country	Institution	Research Area	H-index	RPSA Score
1	Czech Republic	Charles University	Finance	24	87.4
2	Poland	University of Warsaw	Management	21	85.9
3	Hungary	Corvinus University	Marketing	19	83.2
4	Czech Republic	University of Economics	Economics	18	81.7
5	Poland	Kozminski University	Management	17	80.4
6	Slovakia	University of Economics in Bratislava	Finance	16	79.8
7	Hungary	Central European University	Economics	22	78.5
8	Poland	Jagiellonian University	International Business	15	76.9
9	Czech Republic	Masaryk University	Organizational Studies	14	75.2
10	Slovakia	Comenius University	Entrepreneurship	13	74.6

Discussion

The application of the RPSA model to business researchers from V4 countries reveals important insights for scientometric practice and research evaluation policy.

First, the multidimensional approach of RPSA highlights limitations of using single metrics for research evaluation. Researchers with identical h-index scores may demonstrate substantially different profiles across the five RPSA dimensions, suggesting that comprehensive evaluation requires consideration of multiple impact dimensions.

Second, the RPSA model reveals distinctive patterns within the V4 business research ecosystem that were not apparent through traditional metrics. The stronger intra-regional collaboration among Hungarian and Slovak researchers, compared to the more internationally oriented Czech and Polish networks, suggests different strategies for research development integration.

Third, the Societal Relevance dimension demonstrated important differences between researchers in academic versus applied contexts. Traditional citation-based metrics would undervalue the contribution of industry-focused researchers whose work has significant practical impact despite limited academic citations.

The study has several limitations. The reliance on Scopus data means that publications outside this database are not captured, potentially undervaluing local or non-English language research. Additionally, the model currently focuses on business researchers, and its applicability to other disciplines requires further validation.

Conclusion

This study introduced the Researcher Performance in Scopus Articles (RPSA) model as an innovative approach to evaluating scientific output. By applying this model to business researchers from V4 countries, we demonstrated its ability to capture dimensions of research performance that traditional metrics overlook.

The RPSA model provides a more nuanced understanding of research impact by considering output quality, collaborative reach, disciplinary impact, research momentum, and societal relevance. When applied to the V4 business research context, it revealed distinctive patterns of international collaboration, disciplinary development, and knowledge transfer.

Beyond its specific application, the RPSA model offers a framework for more comprehensive research evaluation that could be adapted to other disciplinary and regional contexts. Its multi-dimensional approach addresses key limitations of citation-based metrics while maintaining sufficient standardization for comparative analysis.

For V4 countries specifically, the insights gained through RPSA application could inform more targeted policies for research development, international collaboration incentives, and evaluation systems aligned with national research priorities.

Future research should explore the application of the RPSA model to other regions and disciplines, while ongoing refinement of the algorithm weights based on expert validation will enhance its utility as a research evaluation tool.

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