The Rn-index: a more accurate variant of the Rk-index

TL;DR

The paper introduces the Rn-index, an improved bibliometric metric that more accurately evaluates research contributions of countries, especially those with high global impact, by correcting weaknesses of the existing Rk-index.

Contribution

It proposes the Rn-index, a simple, more accurate variant of the Rk-index, addressing its limitations in assessing countries with significant global research contributions.

Findings

Rn-index corrects Rk-index weaknesses

It is simple to calculate and interpret

Can be fractionally counted for nuanced evaluation

Abstract

The contribution to pushing the boundaries of knowledge is a critical metric for evaluating the research performance of countries and institutions, which in many cases is not revealed by common bibliometric indicators. The Rk-index was specifically designed to assess such contributions, and the Rn-index is a variant that corrects the weakness of the Rk-index, particularly in the evaluation of countries that produce a high proportion of global advancements. This is the case of the USA and China in many technological fields. Additionally, the Rn-index is simple to calculate and understand, as it involves only summing the ratios between the local and global ranks of papers, ordered by their citation count. Moreover, the Rn-index may also be fractionally counted.