AbstractDespite the frequent, recurrent and often damaging criticisms of citation analysis in recent years, the use of citations continues apace. In the context of contemporary anxieties about the increasing use of ‘performance indicators’, this paper argues that it is important to understand the sources of resistance to criticisms of the use of citations. A series of insights from the sociology of scientific knowledge are used to develop the basis for a sociological understanding of the citation debate. In particular, it is suggested that when construed as a measurement technology, we can see how the very system of measuring and manipulating citations redefines the phenomenon it is supposed to measure. Finally, some brief thoughts are offered on possible practical responses to the increasing institutionalisation of citation analysis.