Personal Research Database

Full Text: 2004\Scientometrics60, 463.pdf

Abstract: This article aims to study the total backlink counts, external backlink counts and the Web Impact Factors (WIFs) for Chinese university websites. By studying whether the backlink counts and WIFs of websites associate with the comprehensive ratings and the research ratings for Chinese universities, the article demonstrates that the external backlink count can be a better evaluation measure for university websites than WIF. The study also investigated issues about data collection by using different search engines. It shows that data collected by Alta Vista are more stable than AllTheWeb.

Keywords: Analysis, Data Collection, Evaluation, Factors, Impact, Information, Research, Universities, University, Websites

Tang, R. and Thelwall, M. (2004), Patterns of national and international Web inlinks to US academic departments: An analysis of disciplinary variations. Scientometrics, 60 (3), 475-485.

Full Text: 2004\Scientometrics60, 475.pdf

Abstract: An investigation of links to 89 US academic departments from three different disciplines gave insights into the kinds of international regions and national domains that linked to them. While significant correlations were found between total counts of international inlinks and total publication impact in Psychology and Chemistry, counts of international inlinks to History departments were too small to give a significant result. The correlations suggest that international links may reflect, to a certain extent, patterns of scholarly communication. Even though History departments attracted a significantly lower percentage of international inlinks than those of Chemistry and Psychology, the main source of links for all three disciplines was from Europe. Analyses of national inlinks, characterized by gTLDs (generic Top Level Domains), showed that the major source of links for all disciplines was .edu sites, followed by .com, .org, .net. As a whole, international regional differences in disciplines were stronger than gTLD differences, although in both cases discrepancies were not of a large scale.

Keywords: Impact Factors, Site Interlinking, Critical-View, Links, Communication, Bibliometrics, Webometrics, Science

? Vaughan, L.W. and Wu, G.Z. (2004), Links to commercial websites as a source of business information. Scientometrics, 60 (3), 487-496.

Full Text: 2004\Scientometrics60, 487.pdf

Abstract: Websites of China’s top 100 information technology (IT) companies were examined. Link count to a company’s website was found to correlate with the company’s revenue, profit, and research and development expenses. This suggests that Web hyperlinks to commercial sites can be a business performance indicator and thus a source of business information. This information is useful for Web business intelligence and Web data mining. As a comparison to IT companies, China’s top 100 privately owned companies were also studied. No relationship between link count and the business performance measure was found for these companies due probably to the heterogeneous nature of this group. Data collection issues for webometrics research were also explored in the study.

Keywords: Data Mining, Development, Information, Information Technology, Performance Measure, Research, Research And Development, Sites, Web Impact Factors, Webometrics, Websites

? Egghe, L. (2004), Positive reinforcement and 3-dimensional informetrics. Scientometrics, 60 (3), 497-509.

Full Text: 2004\Scientometrics60, 497.pdf

Abstract: We show that the composition of two information production processes (IPPs), where the items of the first IPP are the sources of the second, and where the ranks of the sources in the first IPP agree with the ranks of the sources in the second IPP, yields an IPP which is positively reinforced with respect to the first IPP. This means that the rank-frequency distribution of the composition is the composition of the rank-frequency distribution of the first IPP and an increasing function phi, which is explicitly calculable from the two IPPs’ distributions. From the rank-frequency distribution of the composition, we derive its size-frequency distribution in terms of the size-frequency distribution of the first IPP and of the function phi. The paper also relates the concentration of the reinforced IPP to that of the original one. This theory solves part of the problem of the determination of a third IPP from two given ones (so-called three-dimensional informetrics). In this paper we solved the “linear” case, i.e., where the third IPP is the composition of the other two IPPs.

Keywords: Information, Informetrics, Laws, Productivity, Systems, Theory

? Glanzel, W. (2004), Towards a model for diachronous and synchronous citation analyses. Scientometrics, 60 (3), 511-522.

Full Text: 2004\Scientometrics60, 511.pdf

Abstract: This paper gives an overview of the diachronous (prospective) and synchronous (retrospective) approach to ageing studies of scientific literature from the perspective of technical reliability, visualising the different aspects that can be analysed by the two approaches. The main objective is to deepen the understanding of the mechanism and the theory underlying the two aproaches, and is to show that the difference between the diachronous and synchronous model is not “Just counting into opposite directions”. In this context, a stochastic model is presented showing that one and the same model can be used to describe both diachronous and synchronous perspectives of citation processes. On the basis of this model, it is explained how some diachronous and synchronous citation-based indicators can be re-calculated for changing publication periods and citation windows underlying their construction. The paper is concluded by several applications such as the definition and calculation of diachronous (prospective) and synchronous (retrospective) journal impact measures and other citation indicators used in research evaluation.

Keywords: Age Data, Ageing, Citation, Evaluation, Growth, Impact, Journal, Journal Impact, Literature, Mechanism, Model, Obsolescence, Overview, Publication, Reliability, Research, Research Evaluation, Scientific Literature, Social-Sciences, Theory

? Shan, S., Jiang, G.H. and Jiang, L. (2004), The multivariate Waring distribution and its application. Scientometrics, 60 (3), 523-535.

Full Text: 2004\Scientometrics60, 523.pdf

Abstract: The multivariate Waring distribution is developed and investigated. A special case, the bivariate Waring distribution, is considered. It is shown that the distributions have some nice properties as multivariate distribution. Some applications to the distribution of scientific productivity are discussed.

Keywords: Productivity, Scientific Productivity

Liang, L.M., Liu, J.W. and Rousseau, R. (2004), Name order patterns of graduate candidates and supervisors in Chinese publications: A case study of three major Chinese universities. Scientometrics, 61 (1), 3-18.

Full Text: S\Scientometrics61, 3.pdf

Abstract: Studying three Chinese major universities of different type, this article attempts to validate earlier results related to authors’ name order in papers co-authored by graduate candidates and their supervisors. Candidates for the doctoral degree as well as the master’s degree are considered. Defining the g-ratio as the fraction of co-authored publications where the graduate student’s name precedes that of the supervisor’s we obtain the following results. 1) Generally, master’s level g-ratios are smaller than the corresponding doctoral level g-ratios. 2) The three doctoral g-ratio time series have a common characteristic: they tend to a limiting target value of somewhat more than 80%. The master’s time series of the three universities extend themselves in parallel with the doctoral time series. 3) The g-ratio of collaborative papers related to the dissertation is higher than the g-ratio of collaborative papers not related to the dissertation. This is true on the doctoral level as well as on the master’s level. 4) Different disciplines have different g-ratios, representing disciplinary customs in graduate candidate-supervisor collaboration, the highest g-ratio in the doctoral case occurring in biology (except for Tsinghua University that does not offer courses in biology). 5) There exist only small differences between the g-ratios of different kinds of universities. 6) In recent years, the same candidate-supervisor collaboration patterns exist in international publications as in domestic ones. The fact that the doctoral g-ratios of all three universities are as high as 80% reflects a universal regularity in the structure of scientific collaboration between doctoral candidates and their supervisors in China.

Keywords: Scientific Productivity, Authors, Citation, Age, Collaboration, Science

? Bornmann, L. and Enders, J. (2004), Social origin and gender of doctoral degree holders - Impact of particularistic attributes in access to and in later career attainment after achieving the doctoral degree in Germany. Scientometrics, 61 (1), 19-41.

Full Text: 2004\Scientometrics61, 19.pdf

Abstract: Within the scope of this article we went further into the question to what extent particularistic attributes - social origin and gender - can affect selection processes (1) in access to and (2) in later career attainment after achieving the doctoral degree. The analyses are based on a questionnaire survey (n = 2 244) among doctoral degree holders achieving the doctoral degree in six selected disciplines (biology, electrical engineering, German studies, mathematics, social sciences, and business studies/economics) at German universities. In terms of our first object of investigation, the analyses show that in four out of six disciplines doctoral degree holders are a selected group compared to university graduates with regard to both social origin and gender. In terms of our second object of investigation - the impact of particularistic attributes on several indicators of further career attainment after achieving the doctoral degree (career inside or outside higher education and science, career position and income) - the results point to a stronger impact of gender compared to social origin.

Keywords: Association, Biology, Cross Classifications, Education, Gender, Germany, Higher Education, Impact, Income, Men, Questionnaire, Questionnaire Survey, Science, Sciences, Social, Social Sciences, Survey, Tests, Universalism, Universities, University, Women

? Kim, M.S. and Park, Y.T. (2004), The evolving patterns of inter-industrial knowledge structure: Case of Korean manufacturing in the 1980s. Scientometrics, 61 (1), 43-54.

Full Text: 2004\Scientometrics61, 43.pdf

Abstract: The notion of knowledge-based economy premises that technological knowledge be created, accumulated and disseminated through the interactive learning among principal actors in the national system. This paper analyzes, from a dynamic perspective, the structure of inter-industrial technological knowledge. Both human-driven disembodied channel and capital-driven embodied channel are investigated based on network analysis. The set of empirical data covers the Korean manufacturing sector during the 1980s. Overall, density of network tends to be increasing over time, implying that knowledge network becomes expanded and intensified. A number of distinctive features are identified between knowledge types and industrial categories. The findings in turn render important policy implications that should be addressed when developing technology policy. Clearly, the policy framework needs to be industry-specific and country-specific in accordance with the development stage and industrial structure of reference time.

Keywords: Analysis, Development, Knowledge, Learning, Network, Policy, Systems, Taxonomy

? Upadhye, R.P., Kalyane, V.L., Kumar, V. and Prakasan, E.R. (2004), Scientometric analysis of synchronous references in the Physics Nobel lectures, 1981-1985: A pilot study. Scientometrics, 61 (1), 55-68.

Full Text: 2004\Scientometrics61, 55.pdf

Abstract: Scientometric analysis of synchronous references in the nine Physics Nobel lectures by Nicolaas Bloembergen (1981), Arthur L. Schawlow (1981), Kai M. Siegbalm (1981), Kenneth G. Wilson (1982), Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1983), William A. Fowler (1983), Carlo Rubbia (1984), Simon van der Meer (1984), and Klaus von Klitzing (1985) indicated high variations: No. of Synchronous References ranged from 24 (Meer) to 283 (Siegbahn); Synchronous Self-References ranged from 5 (Rubbia) to 88 (Siegbahn); synchronous references to others ranged from 10 (Chandrasekhar) to 255 (Wilson); Synchronous Self-Reference Rates ranged from 6.66% (Rubbia) to 65.51% (Chandrasekhar); Single-Authored References ranged from 15 (Klitzing) to 160 (Wilson); Multi-Authored References ranged from 4 (Chandrasekhar) to 194 (Siegbahn); Collaboration Coefficient in the synchronous references ranged from 0.14 (Chandrasekhar) to 0.75 (Klitzing); and Recency (age of 50% of the latest references) ranged from 2 (Klitzing) to 18 (Chandrasekhar) years. Seventy five per cent of the references belonged to journal articles. Highly referred journals were Astrophysical Journal, Physical Review B, Physical Review Letters, Arkiv, Fuer, Fysik, Surface Science, Physics Letters, and IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science.

Keywords: Analysis, Collaboration, Indicators, Journal, Journals, Physics, References, Review, Science, Self-Citations

Chiu, W.T., Huang, J.S. and Ho, Y.S. (2004), Bibliometric analysis of severe acute respiratory syndrome-related research in the beginning stage. Scientometrics, 61 (1), 69-77.

Full Text: S\Scientometrics61, 69.pdf

Abstract: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) has become the major of health issues since its outbreak early 2003. No analyses by bibliometric technique that have examined this topic exist in the literature. The objective of this study is to conduct a bibliometric analysis of all SARS-related publications in Science Citation Index (SCI) in the early stage. A systematic search was performed using the SCI for publications since SARS outbreak early 2003. Selected documents included ‘severe acute respiratory syndrome’ or ‘SARS’ as a part of its title, abstract, or keyword from the beginning stage of SARS outbreak, March till July 8, 2003. Analysis parameters included authorship, patterns of international collaboration, journals, language, document type, research institutional address, times cited, and reprint address. Citation analysis was mainly based on impact factor as defined by Journal Citation Reports (JCR) issued in 2002 and on the actual citation impact (ACI), which has been used to assess the impact relative to the whole field and has been defined as the ratio between individual citation per publication value and the total citation per publication value. Thirty-two percent of total share was published as news features, 25% as editorial materials, 22% as articles, 13% as letters, and the remaining being biographic items, corrections, meeting abstracts, and reprints. The US dominated the production by 30% of the total share followed closely by Hong Kong with 24%. Sixty-three percent of publication was published by the mainstream countries. The SARS publication pattern in the past few months suggests immediate citation, low collaboration rate, and English and mainstream country domination in production. We observed no associations of research indexes with the number of cases.

Keywords: Abstracts, Analyses, Analysis, Articles, Authorship, Bibliometric, Bibliometric Analysis, Cases, Citation, Citation Analysis, Citation Impact, Collaboration, Country, Domination, Field, Health, Hong Kong, Impact, Impact Factor, Indexes, Institutional, Institutional Address, International, Journal Citation Reports, Journals, Language, Literature, Meeting, Meeting Abstracts, News, Objective, Pattern, Production, Publication, Publications, Research, SAR, SARS, SCI, Science, Science Citation Index, Search, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, Syndrome, Systematic, Technique, Till, US, Value

Mehrdad, M., Heydari, A., Sarbolouki, M.N. and Etemad, S. (2004), Basic science in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Scientometrics, 61 (1), 79-88.

Full Text: S\Scientometrics61, 79.pdf

Abstract: The population of Iran has nearly doubled in less than 25 years, while the number of university students has increased more than 10 times and 720 Ph. D. degrees have been awarded in basic science in the past 10 years. Despite the great difficulties that the Iranian scientists have been facing for more than two decades (as a consequence of a social revolution, 8 years of a destructive war imposed by Iraq, excessive brain drain, discriminatory practices by some international journals in publishing the Iranian articles, and unfair sanctions imposed by the industrialized countries) Iran’s science is still thriving and the current number of yearly scientific publications exceeds 1500. When normalized with respect to the number of researchers and the research budget, the Iranian scientists seem to outperform most of their counterparts in the advanced industrialized nations. Main reason: total engagement in truncated research activities (basic or applied) leading solely to pure publications, lack of infrastructure for developmental research activities leading to new technologies. The average impact factor of the papers in various fields of basic science seems quite satisfactory considering the difficult conditions the Iranian scientists are working under. Should the research budgets and conditions improve and the unfair sanctions currently imposed by the world politics be eliminated, a far better contribution to the world science can be expected.

Alfaraz, P.H. and Calvino, A.M. (2004), Bibliometric study on food science and technology: Scientific production in Iberian-American countries (1991-2000). Scientometrics, 61 (1), 89-102.

Full Text: S\Scientometrics61, 89.pdf

Abstract: This study presents a bibliometric analysis of the scientific production in the food science and technology (EST) field for the period 1991-2000, in Iberian-America (IA). Eight selected IA countries contributed 97.6% of the IA production and accounted for a 6.6% of the world production. The most frequent document type is journal article published in English. Retrieved records display characteristical authorship patterns and preferred subject areas. Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Portugal determine the IA pattern of sources of publication. The fifty top ranked journals, 80% of which were indexed by the SCIE, encompass two-thirds of the IA production.

Keywords: Impact, Indicators, Output, Index

? Egghe, L. (2004), The source-item coverage of the Lotka function. Scientometrics, 61 (1), 103-115.

Full Text: 2004\Scientometrics61, 103.pdf

Abstract: The following problem has never been studied : Given A, the total number of items (e.g. articles) and T, the total number of sources (e.g. journals that contain these articles) (hence A>T), when is there a Lotka function f(j) = D/j(alpha) that represents this situation (i.e. where to) denotes the density of the sources in the item-density j)? And, if it exists, what are the formulae for D and alpha? This problem is solved in both cases with j is an element of [1, rho]: where (a) rho = infinity and where (b) rho < &INFIN;. Note that p = the maximum density of the items. If ρ = &INFIN;, then A and T determine uniquely D and α. If ρ < infinity, then we have, for every alpha less than or equal to 2, a solution for D and rho, hence for f. If rho < &INFIN; and α > 2 then we show that a solution exists if and only if mu = A/T < α-1/α-2. This sheds some light on the source-item coverage power of Lotka’s law.

Keywords: Coverage, Journals, Lotka’s Law, Power

Wray, K.B. (2004), An examination of the contributions of young scientists in new fields. Scientometrics, 61 (1), 117-128.

Full Text: S\Scientometrics61, 117.pdf

Abstract: I examine whether or not new scientific specialties present young scientists with better opportunities to make significant discoveries than established specialties by examining a series of significant discoveries in the first 22 years of the field of bacteriology. I found that it was middle aged scientists, not young scientists, who were responsible for a disproportionate number of significant discoveries. I argue that in order to make significant discoveries scientists need to work their way into the center of the social network of a scientific research community. Only then will they have access to the material and social resources necessary to make such discoveries.

Keywords: Creative Productivity, Age, Achievement, Acceptance, Science, Model

? Moya-Anegon, F., Vargas-Quesada, B., Herrero-Solana, V., Chinchilla-Rodriguez, Z., Corera-Alvarez, E. and Munoz-Fernandez, F.J. (2004), A new technique for building maps of large scientific domains based on the cocitation of classes and categories. Scientometrics, 61 (1), 129-145.

Full Text: 2004\Scientometrics61, 129.pdf

Abstract: Our objective is the generation of schematic visualizations as interfaces for scientific domain analysis. We propose a new technique that uses thematic classification (classes and categories) as entities of cocitation and units of measure, and demonstrate the viability of this methodology through the representation and analysis of a domain of great dimensions. The main features of the maps obtained are discussed, and proposals are made for future improvements and applications.

Keywords: Analysis, Citation Analysis, Cocitation, Digital Libraries, Domain Analysis, Information-Science, Interfaces, Knowledge Domains, Literatures, Methodology, Pathfinder Networks, Viability, Visualization, Word Analysis

? Ahmed, T., Johnson, B., Oppenheim, C. and Peck, C. (2004), Highly cited old papers and the reasons why they continue to be cited. Part II. The 1953 Watson and Crick article on the structure of DNA. Scientometrics, 61 (2), 147-156.

Full Text: S\Scientometrics61, 147.pdf

Abstract: Reports the results of a citation study on Watson and Crick’s 1953 paper announcing the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA. The paper has been cited more than 2,000 times since 196 1, and there is no sign of any obsolescence to this article. An analysis was undertaken of the journals in which the citations appeared, and of mistakes in the bibliographic citations provided by citing articles. Watson and Crick themselves have only cited their own paper twice since 1961. An analysis was also undertaken of the reasons why the paper was cited, 100 citing articles were identified and read. The reasons for citing were then categorised using the Oppenheim and Renn method. Compared to earlier studies, it was found that a greater proportion of citations were for historical reasons, a smaller proportion of citing articles were actively using the Watson and Crick article, and a similar, but low proportion were criticising the Watson and Crick article.

Keywords: Citation Behavior, Library, Motivations, Research Assessment Exercise

? Rai, L.P. and Kumar, N. (2004), S&T education in India: Prospects and challenges. Scientometrics, 61 (2), 157-169.

Full Text: 2004\Scientometrics61, 157.pdf

Abstract: With the globalisation of the job market, higher education is undergoing structural changes and education scenario worldwide is experiencing dramatic and accelerating changes in patterns of creation of new knowledge. Similar activities are being witnessed in India as regards to the production of highly qualified S&T personnel in different disciplines. In this paper a comparative analysis of doctorates produced in India during 1974 to 1999 in different fields is carried out with the help of mathematical models. Besides analysing the trends of highly qualified S&T personnel with the help of known mathematical models, a few new substitution models have been proposed and applied to explain the movement of researchers from one discipline to the other. Findings suggest that arts, commerce, education and medicine depict growing trends, whereas agriculture, science and veterinary science are traversing a declining path. Further, proposed models are found to be flexible in nature and can capture and explain the shifting patterns very well. These models are comparable to other known models dealing with technology substitution.

Keywords: Activities, Analysis, Diffusion, Education, Globalisation, Higher Education, India, Knowledge, Medicine, Models, Movement, Researchers, Science, Substitution, Trends

Gu, Y.N. (2004), Global knowledge management research: A bibliometric analysis. Scientometrics,