Personal Research Database

Full Text: 2006\Scientometrics68, 327.pdf

Archambault, E., Vignola-Gagne, E., Cote, G., Lariviere, V. and Gingras, Y. (2006), Benchmarking scientific output in the social sciences and humanities: The limits of existing databases. Scientometrics, 68 (3), 329-342.

Full Text: 2006\Scientometrics68, 329.pdf

Abstract: The goal of this paper is to examine the impact of linguistic coverage of databases used by bibliometricians on the capacity to effectively benchmark the work of researchers in social sciences and humanities. We examine the strong link between bibliometrics and the Thomson Scientific’s database and review the differences in the production and diffusion of knowledge in the social sciences and humanities (SSH) and the natural sciences and engineering (NSE). This leads to a re-examination of the debate on the coverage of these databases, more specifically in the SSH. The methods section explains how we have compared the coverage of Thomson Scientific databases in the NSE and SSH to the Ulrich extensive database of journals. Our results show that there is a 20 to 25% overrepresentation of English-language journals in Thomson Scientific’s databases compared to the list of journals presented in Ulrich. This paper concludes that because of this bias, Thomson Scientific databases cannot be used in isolation to benchmark the output of countries in the SSH.

Keywords: Behavioral-Sciences, Capacity, Coverage, Diffusion, Impact, Indicators, Journals, Knowledge, Link, Production, Research Performance, Review, Sociology Citation Index

? Barjak, F. (2006), Research productivity in the internet era. Scientometrics, 68 (3), 343-360.

Full Text: 2006\Scientometrics68, 343.pdf

Abstract: The present study investigated the relationship between the use of different internet applications and research productivity, controlling for other influences on the latter. The control variables included dummies for country, discipline, gender and type of organization of the respondent, as well as variables for age, recognition, the degree of society-related and career-related motivation for research, and the size of the collaboration network. Simple variance analyses and more complex negative binomial hurdle models point to a positive relationship between internet use (for personal communication, information retrieval and information dissemination) and research productivity. However, the results should be interpreted with caution as it was not possible to test the role of the internet against other pre-internet tools which fulfil the same functions. Thus instance it may not be the use of e-mail per se, but the degree of communicating with colleagues that makes a productive scientist.

Keywords: Age, Collaboration, Communication, Computer-Mediated Communication, Control, Dissemination, Faculty, Gender, Information Dissemination, Internet, Level, Models, Motivation, Network, Organization, Patterns, Point, Productivity, Publication Productivity, Research, Research Performance, Science, Scientific Collaboration, University

? Basu, A. (2006), Using ISI’s ‘Highly Cited Researchers’ to obtain a country level indicator of citation excellence. Scientometrics, 68 (3), 361-375.

Full Text: 2006\Scientometrics68, 361.pdf

Abstract: A high level of citation to an author’s work is, in general, a testimony to the fact that the author’s work has been noted and used by his peers. High citation is seen to be correlated with other forms of recognition and rewards, and is a key indicator of research performance, among other bibliometric indicators. The Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) defines a ‘highly cited researcher’ (HCR) as one of 250 most cited authors of journal papers in any discipline. Citation data for 20 years (1981-1999) is used to calculate the share of HCRs for countries in 21 subject areas. We find that the US dominates in all subject areas (US share similar to 40-90%). Based on the number of highly cited researchers in a country, an index of citation excellence is proposed. We find that rank order of countries based on this index is in conformity with our general understanding of research excellence, whereas the more frequently used indicator, citations per paper, gave an unacceptable rank order due to an inherent bias toward very small countries. Additionally, a high value of the index of citation excellence was found to be associated with higher concentration of highly cited researchers in affiliating organizations.

Keywords: Concentration, Indicator, Indicators, Inherent, Key, Organizations, Peers, Performance, Research, US

? Van Den Besselaar, P. and Heimeriks, G. (2006), Mapping research topics using word-reference co-occurrences: A method and an exploratory case study. Scientometrics, 68 (3), 377-393.

Full Text: 2006\Scientometrics68, 377.pdf

Abstract: Mapping of science and technology can be done at different levels of aggregation, using a variety of methods. In this paper, we propose a method in which title words are used as indicators for the content of a research topic, and cited references are used as the context in which words get their meaning. Research topics are represented by sets of papers that are similar in terms of these word-reference combinations. In this way we use words without neglecting differences and changes in their meanings. The method has several advantages, such as high coverage of publications. As an illustration we apply the method to produce knowledge maps of information science.

Keywords: Aggregation, Combined Cocitation, Context, Indicators, Knowledge, Method, Research, Science

? Bjorneborn, L. (2006), ‘Mini small worlds’ of shortest link paths crossing domain boundaries in an academic Web space. Scientometrics, 68 (3), 395-414.

Full Text: 2006\Scientometrics68, 395.pdf

Abstract: Combining webometric and social network analytic approaches, this study developed a methodology to sample and identify Web links, pages, and sites that function as small-world connectors affecting short link distances along link paths between different topical domains in an academic Web space. The data set comprised 7669 subsites harvested from 109 UK universities. A novel corona-shaped Web graph model revealed reachability structures among the investigated subsites. Shortest link path netsfunctioned as investigable small-world link structures-’mini small worlds’-generated by deliberate juxtaposition of topically dissimilar subsites. Indicative findings suggest that personal Web page authors and computer science subsites may be important small-world connectors across sites and topics in an academic Web space. Such connectors may counteract balkanization of the Web into insularities of disconnected and unreachable subpopulations.

Keywords: Citation Networks, Collaboration Networks, Complex Networks, Computer, Function, Graphs, Internet, Link, Methodology, Model, Network, Social Network, Space, UK

? Borner, K., Penumarthy, S., Meiss, M. and Ke, W.M. (2006), Mapping the diffusion of scholarly knowledge among major US research institutions. Scientometrics, 68 (3), 415-426.

Full Text: 2006\Scientometrics68, 415.pdf

Abstract: This paper reports the results of a large scale data analysis that aims to identify the production, diffusion, and consumption of scholarly knowledge among top research institutions in the United States. A 20-year publication data set was analyzed to identify the 500 most cited research institutions and spatio-temporal changes in their inter-citation patterns. A novel approach to analyzing the dual role of institutions as producers and consumers of scholarly knowledge and to study the diffusion of knowledge among them is introduced. A geographic visualization metaphor is used to visually depict the production and consumption of knowledge. The highest producers and their consumers as well as the highest consumers and their producers are identified and mapped. Surprisingly, the introduction of the Internet does not seem to affect the distance over which scholarly knowledge diffuses as manifested by citation links. The citation linkages between institutions fall off with the distance between them, and there is a strong linear relationship between the log of the citation counts and the log of the distance. The paper concludes with a discussion of these results and future work.

Keywords: Analysis, Citation, Consumers, Data Analysis, Diffusion, Internet, Knowledge, Migration, Production, Research, Scale, United States, US

? Bornmann, L. and Daniel, H.D. (2006), Selecting scientific excellence through committee peer review - A citation analysis of publications previously published to approval or rejection of post-doctoral research fellowship applicants. Scientometrics, 68 (3), 427-440.

Full Text: 2006\Scientometrics68, 427.pdf

Abstract: We investigated committee peer review for awarding long-term fellowships to post-doctoral researchers as practiced by the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds (B.I.F.)-a foundation for the promotion of basic research in biomedicine. Assessing the validity of selection decisions requires a generally accepted criterion for research impact. A widely used approach is to use citation counts as a proxy for the impact of scientific research. Therefore, a citation analysis for articles published previous to the applicants’ approval or rejection for a B.I.F. fellowship was conducted. Based on our model estimation (negative binomial regression model), journal articles that had been published by applicants approved for a fellowship award (n = 64) prior to applying for the B.I.F. fellowship award can be expected to have 37% (straight counts of citations) and 49% (complete counts of citations) more citations than articles that had been published by rejected applicants (n = 333). Furthermore, comparison with international scientific reference values revealed (a) that articles published by successful and non-successful applicants are cited considerably more often than the ‘average’ publication and (b) that excellent research performance can be expected more of successful than non-successful applicants. The findings confirm that the foundation is not only achieving its goal of selecting the best junior scientists for fellowship awards, but also successfully attracting highly talented young scientists to apply for B.I.F. fellowships.

Keywords: Analysis, Foundation, Impact, International, Long Term, Model, Performance, Predictive-Validity, Productivity, Promotion, Proxy, Regression, Research, Review, Science, Validity, Values

? Burrell, Q.L. (2006), Measuring concentration within and co-concentration between informetric distributions: An empirical study. Scientometrics, 68 (3), 441-456.

Full Text: 2006\Scientometrics68, 441.pdf

Abstract: There is a well-established literature on the use of concentration measures in informetrics. However, these works have usually been devoted to measures of concentration within a productivity distribution. In a pair of recent papers the author introduced two new measures, both based on the Gini ratio, for measuring the similarity of concentration of productivity between two different informetric distributions. The first of these was derived from Dagum’s notion of relative economic affluence, the second-in some ways analogous to the correlation coefficient-is completely new. The purpose of this study is to develop a purely empirical approach to comparative studies of concentration between informetric data sets using both within and between measures thereby greatly extending the original study which considered just two data sets for purposes of illustration of the methods of calculation of the measures.

Keywords: Concentration, Correlation, Distribution, Distributions, Economic, Empirical, Gini Index, Law, Literature, Productivity, Ratio, Recent

? Glänzel, W., Schlemmer, B., Schubert, A. and Thijs, B. (2006), Proceedings literature as additional data source for bibliometric analysis. Scientometrics, 68 (3), 457-473.

Full Text: 2006\Scientometrics68, 457.pdf

Abstract: Scientific meetings have become increasingly important channels for scholarly communi-cation. In several fields of applied and engineering sciences they are-according to the statements of scientists active in those fields-even more important than publishing in periodicals. One objective of this study is to analyse the weight of proceedings literature in all fields of the sciences, social sciences and humanities as well as the use of the ISI Proceedings database as additional data source for bibliometric studies. The second objective is exploring the use of a further important feature of this database, namely, of information about conference location for the analysis of bibliometrically relevant aspects of information flow such as the relative attractivity, the extent of mobility and unidirectional or mutual affinity of countries.

Keywords: Analysis, Communication, Flow, Literature, Mobility, Participation, Science, Scientific Meetings

? Klavans, R. and Boyack, K.W. (2006), Quantitative evaluation of large maps of science. Scientometrics, 68 (3), 475-499.

Full Text: 2006\Scientometrics68, 475.pdf

Abstract: This article describes recent improvements in mapping the world-wide scientific literature. Existing research is extended in three ways. First, a method for generating maps directly from the data on the relationships between hundreds of thousands of documents is presented. Second, quantitative techniques for evaluating these large maps of science are introduced. Third, these techniques are applied to data in order to evaluate eight different maps. The analyses suggest that accuracy can be increased by using a modified cosine measure of relatedness. Disciplinary bias can be significantly reduced and accuracy can be further increased by using much lower threshold levels. In short, much larger samples of papers can and should be used to generate more accurate maps of science.

Keywords: Evaluation, Knowledge Domains, Literature, Mapping, Method, Recent, Research

? Kousha, K. and Thelwall, M. (2006), Motivations for URL citations to open access library and information science articles. Scientometrics, 68 (3), 501-517.

Full Text: 2006\Scientometrics68, 501.pdf

Abstract: We define the URL citations of a Web page to be the mentions of its URL in the text of other Web pages, whether hyperlinked or not. The proportions of formal and informal scholarly motivations for creating URL citations to Library and Information Science open access journal articles were identified. Five characteristics for each source of URL citations equivalent to formal citations were manually extracted and the relationship between Web and conventional citation counts at the e-journal level was examined. Results of Google searches showed that 282 research articles published in the year 2000 in 15 peer-reviewed LIS open access journals were invoked by 3,045 URL citations. Of these URL citations, 43% were created for formal scholarly reasons equivalent to traditional citations and 18% for informal scholarly reasons. Of the sources of URL citations, 82% were in English, 88% were full text papers and 58% were non-HTML documents. Of the URL citations, 60% were text URLs only and 40% were hyperlinked. About 50% of URL citations were created within one year after the publication of the cited e-article. A slight correlation was found between average numbers of URL citations and average numbers of ISI citations for the journals in 2000. Separating out the citing HTML and non-HTML documents showed that formal scholarly communication trends on the Web were mainly influenced by text URL citations from non-HTML documents.

Keywords: Communication, Correlation, Links, Research, Sites, Trends, Web Impact Factors

? Lariviere, V., Gingras, Y. and Archambault, E. (2006), Canadian collaboration networks: A comparative analysis of the natural sciences, social sciences and the humanities. Scientometrics, 68 (3), 519-533.

Full Text: 2006\Scientometrics68, 519.pdf

Abstract: A basic dichotomy is generally made between publication practices in the natural sciences and engineering (NSE) on the one hand and social sciences and humanities (SSH) on the other. However, while researchers in the NSE share some common practices with researchers in SSH, the spectrum of practices is broader in the latter. Drawing on data from the CD-ROM versions of the Science Citation Index, Social Sciences Citation Index and the Arts & Humanities Citation Index from 1980 to 2002, this paper compares collaboration patterns in the SSH to those in the NSE. We show that, contrary to a widely held belief, researchers in the social sciences and the humanities do not form a homogeneous category. In fact, collaborative activities of researchers in the social sciences are more comparable to those of researchers in the NSE than in the humanities. Also, we see that language and geographical proximity influences the choice of collaborators in the SSH, but also in the NSE. This empirical analysis, which sheds a new light on the collaborative activities of researchers in the NSE compared to those in the SSH, may have policy implications as granting councils in these fields have a tendency to imitate programs developed for the NSE, without always taking into account the specificity of the humanities.

Keywords: Analysis, CD-ROM, Choice, Collaboration, Collaboration Networks, Data, Engineering, Humanities, Networks, Policy, Practices, Publication, Science Citation Index, Sciences, Social, Social Sciences, Specificity

? Liang, L.M., Rousseau, R. and Shi, F. (2006), A rhythm indicator for science and the rhythm of Science. Scientometrics, 68 (3), 535-544.

Full Text: 2006\Scientometrics68, 535.pdf

Abstract: The rhythm of science may be compared to the rhythm of music. The R-indicator studied in this article is a complex indicator, trying to reflect part of this rhythm. The R-indicator interweaves publication and citation data over a long period. In this way R-sequences can be used to describe the evolutionary rhythm of science considered in a novel way. As an example the R-sequence of the journal Science from 1945 on is calculated.

Keywords: Indicator

? Meyer, M. (2006), Knowledge integrators or weak links? An exploratory comparison of patenting researchers with their non-inventing peers in nano-science and technology. Scientometrics, 68 (3), 545-560.

Full Text: 2006\Scientometrics68, 545.pdf

Abstract: Policy-makers in many countries emphasize the importance of non-publication output of university research. Increasingly, policies are pursued that attempt to encourage entrepreneurial activity in universities and public research institutes. Apart from generating spin-out companies, technology licensing, and collaborative research, attention is focused on patenting activities of researchers. Some analysts suggest that there is a trade-off between scholarly publication and patenting activity. This paper explores this relationship drawing on a data set of nanoscience publications and nanotechnology patents in three European countries. In particular, this study examines whether researchers who both publish and patent are more productive and more highly cited than their peers who concentrate on scholarly publication in communicating their research results. Furthermore, this study investigates the collaborative activity of inventor-authors and their position in their respective networks of scientific communication. The findings suggest that overall there seems to be no adverse relationship between publication and patenting activity, at least not in this area of science and technology. Patenting scientists appear to outperform their solely publishing, non-inventing peers in terms of publication counts and citation frequency. However, while they are considerably over-represented in the top performance class, the data indicates that inventor-authors may not occupy top positions within that group. An analysis of co-authorship links indicates that patenting authors can also play a prominent role within networks of scientific communication. The network maps also point to groups where inventor-authors occur frequently and others where this is not the case, which possibly reflects cognitive differences between sub-fields. Finally, the data indicates that inventor-authors account only for a marginal share of publishing scholars while they play a substantial role amongst inventors.

Keywords: Activity, Analysis, Class, Collaborative Research, Communication, Dynamics, Entrepreneurial Universities, Industry, Innovation, Marginal, Nanotechnology, Network, Patterns, Peers, Performance, Point, Research, Scientists, University

? Persson, O. (2006), Exploring the analytical potential of comparing citing and cited source items. Scientometrics, 68 (3), 561-572.

Full Text: 2006\Scientometrics68, 561.pdf

Abstract: Comparing properties of citing and cited source items opens a wide variety of analytical possibilities. In a study of citations among papers in the journal Scientometrics a number of analytical themes are identified. The analysis shows: the way in which a citation graph can be decomposed into different subparts, country specific citation patterns, the effects of self-citations and domestic citations, the mapping of cited author relationships using direct citation and co-citation links, and time slicing effects on impact ranking of countries and papers.

Keywords: Analysis, Citations, Collaboration, Effects, Impact, Indicators, Mapping, Networks, Properties, Ranking, Time

? Schneider, J.W. (2006), Concept symbols revisited: Naming clusters by parsing and filtering of noun phrases from citation contexts of concept symbols. Scientometrics, 68 (3), 573-593.

Full Text: 2006\Scientometrics68, 573.pdf

Abstract: The present study presents a semi-automatic method for parsing and filtering of noun phrases from citation contexts of concept symbols. The purpose of the method is to extract contextual, agreed upon, and pertinent noun phrases, to be used in visualization studies for naming clusters (concept groups) or concept symbols. The method is applied in a case study, which forms part of a larger dissertation work concerning the applicability of bibliometric methods for thesaurus construction. The case study is carried out within periodontology, a specialty area of dentistry. The result of the case study indicates that the method is able to identify highly important noun phrases, and that these phrases accurately describe their parent clusters. Hence, the method is able to reduce the labour intensive work of manual citation context analysis, though further refinements are still needed.

Keywords: Analysis, Bibliometrics, Citing Statements, Cocitation, Computer Recognition, Context, Knowledge, Method, Parent, Retrieval, Word Analysis

? Small, H. (2006), Tracking and predicting growth areas in science. Scientometrics, 68 (3), 595-610.

Full Text: 2006\Scientometrics68, 595.pdf

Abstract: We explore the possibility of using co-citation clusters over three time periods to track the emergence and growth of research areas, and predict their near term change. Data sets are from three overlapping six-year periods: 1996-2001, 1997-2002 and 1998-2003. The methodologies of co-citation clustering, mapping, and string formation are reviewed, and a measure of cluster currency is defined as the average age of highly cited papers relative to the year span of the data set. An association is found between the currency variable in a prior period and the percentage change in cluster size and citation frequency in the following period. The conflating factor of ‘single-issue clusters’ is discussed and dealt with using a new metric called in-group citation.

Keywords: Age, Association, Citation-Index, Clustering, Cocitation, Growth, Literatures, Mapping, Mathematical Approach, Research, Scientific Discovery, Time

? Vaughan, L. and You, J. (2006), Comparing business competition positions based on Web co-link data: The global market vs. the Chinese market. Scientometrics,