Eugene Garfield

Eugene Garfield
Name	Eugene Garfield
Birth date	March 16, 1925
Birth place	New York City
Death date	February 26, 2017
Death place	Philadelphia
Occupation	Information scientist, inventor, entrepreneur, editor
Known for	Citation indexing, Science Citation Index, Institute for Scientific Information

Eugene Garfield Eugene Garfield was an American information scientist, entrepreneur, and editor who pioneered citation indexing and transformed scholarly communication through bibliometric tools, databases, and editorial practices. His work influenced research evaluation, library collection development, publishing, and information retrieval across institutions such as University of Pennsylvania, National Institutes of Health, and the American Sociological Association.

Early life and education

Born in New York City, Garfield attended local schools before studying at Columbia University where he earned a degree in chemistry. He pursued graduate studies at University of Pennsylvania and trained in information science at institutions connected to Johns Hopkins University and the National Bureau of Economic Research. Influences during his formative years included figures and institutions such as Vannevar Bush, Paul Otlet, and early 20th-century developments in indexing exemplified by Henry Bliss and S.R. Ranganathan.

Career and contributions

Garfield founded the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) and launched the seminal Science Citation Index (SCI), innovations that reshaped access to the literature of physics, chemistry, medicine, biology, and the humanities. He established and edited journals and indexes linked with organizations like American Chemical Society, Nature, Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and the Royal Society. His methods were applied by libraries such as the Library of Congress and bibliometric units at Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford University. Garfield collaborated with database vendors and publishers including Thomson Reuters, Elsevier, Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford University Press, and Springer Nature to integrate citation indexing into commercial products and library services.

He promoted citation indexing as a retrieval mechanism and as a metric for assessing influence, interacting with policymakers and evaluators at organizations like the National Science Foundation, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, World Health Organization, and the European Research Council. His entrepreneurial activities led to products used by research offices at University College London and University of Tokyo, and by governmental research libraries such as the British Library. Garfield engaged with scholars from Harvard Business School, Columbia Business School, and the London School of Economics on research evaluation and bibliometrics.

Major works and publications

Garfield authored and edited numerous books, indexes, and articles, including titles published by Basic Books, MIT Press, McGraw-Hill, and Routledge. Key outputs included the early editions of the Science Citation Index, annual compilations analogous to the Journal Citation Reports, and monographs widely cited across fields like information science and library science (institutions such as American Library Association adopted his tools). His essays appeared in periodicals including The Scientist, Nature, Science, The Lancet, and The New York Times, and were discussed at conferences hosted by Association for Information Science and Technology and International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions.

Impact on bibliometrics and citation analysis

Garfield's innovations established citation analysis as a central methodology used by bibliometricians at Leiden University and CWTS and influenced indicators developed at Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and Eurostat. His ideas underpin metrics such as the impact factor used by publishers like Elsevier and evaluators at institutions like University of California and Max Planck Society. Citation indexing affected tenure and promotion committees at universities including Princeton University and Yale University, grant panels at Wellcome Trust and the National Institutes of Health, and national research assessments such as Research Excellence Framework and Leiden Ranking implementations. Debates about metrics led to responses from groups including the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment signatories and initiatives at Crossref and ORCID to improve scholarly infrastructure.

Awards and honors

Garfield received honors from institutions and societies such as the American Society for Information Science and Technology, the Royal Society of Chemistry, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the National Academy of Sciences affiliates. He was recognized by academic organizations including Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Chicago, and King's College London with awards, fellowships, and honorary degrees. Professional accolades included lifetime achievement recognitions from Association for Information Science and Technology and medals named by bibliometric centers at Leiden University and University of Amsterdam.

Personal life and legacy

Garfield lived in Philadelphia where he maintained connections with regional institutions such as the University of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia Free Library. His legacy persists through databases and infrastructures maintained by corporations like Clarivate (successor to Thomson Reuters ISI products), academic centers at Leiden University and CWTS, and professional standards advanced by bodies such as Crossref and ORCID. His concepts shaped scholarly communication reforms discussed at meetings of UNESCO, the European Commission, and national academies including the Royal Society and the National Academy of Sciences. Garfield's influence is reflected in continuing debates involving publishers Elsevier and Wiley, research funders Wellcome Trust and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and initiatives for open science promoted by SPARC and COPE.

Category:Information scientists