Citation analysis has been an important area of informetrics (or bibliometrics) for severai decades. It mainly deals with the study of the relationship between citing and cited documents. A number of studies have been done to explore citation analysis and its applications. These studies have different opinions about the nature and the complexities of the citing process. Theories of citation have been debated for decades and can never be complete. By reviewing many empirical studies, this article describes the development and critique of citation analysis. especially focuses on the citation classifications, citation functions, citation concepts and citation motivations.
