Baseball and Science: What Roberto Clemente and Willie Mays Can Teach Us About Measuring Scholarly Impact

• Published date: 01 August 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/10439862231175088
• Author: Travis C. Pratt
• Date: 01 August 2023

https://doi.org/10.1177/10439862231175088

Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

2023, Vol. 39(3) 341 –353

© The Author(s) 2023

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DOI: 10.1177/10439862231175088

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Article

Baseball and Science:

What Roberto Clemente

and Willie Mays Can Teach

Us About Measuring

Scholarly Impact

Travis C. Pratt1

Abstract

Citation-based indicators of scholarly impact are controversial in the sciences.

Although they are often used in rankings of institutions, scholarly works, and scholars

themselves, they have been criticized for their failure to capture a wider spectrum

of “scholarly impact.” Much like the “five tools” that baseball players can use to

influence the outcome of a baseball game, there are a lot of different ways that

scholars can have an impact with their work. Accordingly, this article discusses

multiple dimensions of impact—research (publications and citations), student

mentorship, institutional and programmatic development, community engagement,

and the discipline at large—where scholars can make a difference in people’s lives. In

the end, the broader message is that, while there will inevitably be few players like

Roberto Clemente or Willie Mays in the sciences, there are still several important

ways that scholars can make an impact.

Keywords

scholarly impact, citations, institutional rankings

Indicators of scholarly impact are controversial in the sciences in general (Aksnes

et al., 2019; Kaur et al., 2013) and are certainly a source of contention within

criminology and criminal justice (Cohn & Farrington, 2011; Fahmy & Young, 2015).

1University of Cincinnati, OH, USA

Corresponding Author:

Travis C. Pratt, Harris County Community Supervision and Corrections Department, University of

Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA.

Email: pratttc@ucmail.uc.edu

1175088CCJXXX10.1177/10439862231175088Journal of Contemporary Criminal JusticePratt

research-article2023