Normalized metrics take into account the context of an article - comparing the citation patterns of similar articles so that you are comparing like with like. A value of 1 means that an article is performing on average, worldwide, for a particular category. Values higher than 1 indicate that it is performing above average; values below 1 indicate below average performance.
Scopus provides a Field Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) figure.
"Field-Weighted Citation Impact is the ratio of the total citations actually received by the denominator’s output, and the total citations that would be expected based on the average of the subject field.
From https://helpcenter.pure.elsevier.com/en_US/data-sources-and-integrations/field-weighted-citation-impact-fwci-metrics, accessed 8 April 2025.
Web of Science & InCites provide a Citation Normalized Citation Impact (CNCI).
"The Category Normalized Citation Impact (CNCI) of a document is calculated by dividing the actual count of citing items by the expected citation rate for documents with the same document type, year of publication and subject area. When a document is assigned to more than one subject area an average of the ratios of the actual to expected citations is used. The CNCI of a set of documents, for example the collected works of an individual, institution or country/region, is the average of the CNCI values for all the documents in the set."
From https://incites.zendesk.com/hc/en-gb/articles/25087312115601-Category-Normalized-Citation-Impact-CNCI#h_01HXZDGQ0ARP65913C09HM4YBP, accessed 8 April 2025.
