Join@published by Elsevier Science Ltd, Oxford and Akadkmiai Kiad6, Budapest Scientometrics, Vol. 41, Nos 1-2 (1998) 225-241 THE SIGNS OF SCIENCE P. WOUTERS Department of Science and Technology Dynamics Nieuwe Achtergracht 166 1018 WV Amsterdam (The Netherlands) Email:pwouters@xs4all. nl (Received August30, 1997) Since the Science Citation Index emerged within the system of scientific communication in 1964, an intense controversy about its character has been raging: in what sense can citation analysis be trusted? This debate can be characterized as the confrontation of different perspectives on science. In this paper the citation representation of science is discussed:the way the citation creates a new reality of as well as in the world of science; the main features of this reality; and some implications for science and sciencepolicy. An objective representation of science The Science Citation Index I is not merely a bibliographic instrument. Above all, it Creates a new picture of science via the references in the scientific literature. As the Terminology & Definitions section of the SCI explains: The Citation Index is an alphabetic list of references given in bibliographies and footnotes of source articles arranged by first author. Each reference is followed by brief descriptions (citations) of the source articles which cite it. In this way, the SCI provides a fundamentally new representation of science. There have been similar devices before. However, these were confined to certain disciplines; the SCI is the first citation index aimed at the scientific literature as a whole. It creates an image of this literature like a telephone book creates one of the inhabitants of a city. Representing means'both "speaking or acting on behalf of' and "being able to stand in for". Every representation is the product of both the phenomenon it represents and its 1By the term Science Citation Index are also meant the Social Science Citation Index and the Arts & HumanitiesCitationIndex, all publishedby the Institutefor ScientifcInformation. 0138-9130/98/US $15.00 Copyright 9 1998 Akadgmiai Kiad6, Budapest All rights reserved