Widespread reference missingness disparities in open scholarly metadata
Quantitative Science Studies, 7, 53–65 · 2026
About this work
This study examines missing reference lists in OpenAlex and asks whether the gaps are distributed evenly. It finds that missingness is associated with journal and institutional prestige and with country economic standing, which matters when metadata are used to compare scientific impact.
Cite this work
Huaxia Zhou; Lizhen Liang; Daniel E. Acuna (2026). Widespread reference missingness disparities in open scholarly metadata. Quantitative Science Studies, 7, 53–65. 10.1162/qss.a.400.
@article{zhou2026widespread,
title = {Widespread reference missingness disparities in open scholarly metadata},
author = {Zhou, Huaxia and Liang, Lizhen and Acuna, Daniel E.},
year = {2026},
journal = {Quantitative Science Studies},
volume = {7},
pages = {53--65},
doi = {10.1162/qss.a.400},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1162/qss.a.400}
}