Personal Research Database

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics83, 493.pdf

Abstract: Using the data of a comprehensive evaluation study on the peer review process of Angewandte Chemie International Edition (AC-IE), we examined in this study the way in which referees’ comments differ on manuscripts rejected at AC-IE and later published in either a low-impact journal (Tetrahedron Letters, n = 54) or a high-impact journal (Journal of the American Chemical Society, n = 42). For this purpose, a content analysis was performed of comments which led to the rejection of the manuscripts at AC-IE. For the content analysis, a classification scheme with thematic areas developed by Bornmann et al. (2008) was used. As the results of the analysis demonstrate, a large number of negative comments from referees in the areas “Relevance of contribution” and “Design/Conception” are clear signs that a manuscript rejected at AC-IE will not be published later in a high-impact journal. The number of negative statements in the areas “Writing/Presentation,” “Discussion of results,” “Method/Statistics,” and “Reference to the literature and documentation,” on the other hand, had no statistically significant influence on the probability that a rejected manuscript would later be published in a low-or high-impact journal. The results of this study have various implications for authors, journal editors and referees.

Keywords: Angewandte-Chemie, Classification, Content Analysis, Editors, Evaluation, Fate of Rejected Manuscripts, International, Journal, Journal Peer Review, Literature, Manuscripts, Peer Review, Peer-Review, Publication, Rejection, Review, Thematic Areas for Manuscript Review

? Krampen, G. (2010), Acceleration of citing behavior after the millennium? Exemplary bibliometric reference analyses for psychology journals. Scientometrics, 83 (2), 507-513.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics83, 507.pdf

Abstract: With reference to social constructivist approaches on citing behavior in the sciences, the hypothesis of acceleration of citing behavior after the millennium was empirically tested for a stratified random sample of exemplary psychology journal articles. The sample consists of 45 English and 45 German articles published in the years 1985 versus 1995 versus 2005 in high impact journals on developmental psychology, psychological diagnosis and assessment, and social psychology. Content analyses of the reference lists refer to the total number of references cited in the articles and the publication years of all references. In addition, the number of self-references, the number of pages, and the number of authors were determined for each article. Results show that there is no acceleration of citing behavior, rather, on the contrary, a significant trend is revealed for an increase in authors’ citing somewhat older references in the newer journal articles. Significant main effects point also at more citations of somewhat older references in the English (vs. German) journal articles as well as in articles on social psychology and psychological diagnosis (vs. on developmental psychology). Complementary analyses show that multiple authorships and the number of pages as well as the total number of references and the number of self-references increase significantly with time. However, percentage of self-references remains quite stable at about 10%. Some methodological and statistical traps in bibliometric testing the starting hypothesis are considered. Thus, the talk that has been circulating among psychology colleagues and students on the potential millennium effects on citing behavior in the sciences (which can, however, become a self-fulfilling prophecy) are not confirmed-at least for psychology journals.

Keywords: Articles, Assessment, Bibliometric, Bibliometrics, Citation, Citations, Citing Behavior, Content Analysis, Diagnosis, Impact, Journal, Journals, Literature References, Millennium, Psychology, Publication, Science, Scientometry, Self-Fulfilling Prophecy, Sociology

? Dehon, C., McCathie, A. and Verardi, V. (2010), Uncovering excellence in academic rankings: A closer look at the Shanghai ranking. Scientometrics, 83 (2), 515-524.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics83, 515.pdf

Abstract: In this paper, we examine whether the quality of academic research can be accurately captured by a single aggregated measure such as a ranking. With Shanghai University’s Academic Ranking of World Universities as the basis for our study, we use robust principal component analysis to uncover the underlying factors measured by this ranking. Based on a sample containing the top 150 ranked universities, we find evidence that, for the majority of these institutions, the Shanghai rankings reflect not one but in fact two different and uncorrelated aspects of academic research: overall research output and top-notch researchers. Consequently, the relative weight placed upon these two factors determines to a large extent the final ranking.

Keywords: PCA, Ranking, Rankings, Research, Research Output, Researchers, RMCD, Robustness, Shanghai, Universities, University

? Upham, S.P., Rosenkopf, L. and Ungar, L.H. (2010), Innovating knowledge communities: An analysis of group collaboration and competition in science and technology. Scientometrics, 83 (2), 525-554.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics83, 525.pdf

Abstract: A useful level of analysis for the study of innovation may be what we call “knowledge communities”-intellectually cohesive, organic inter-organizational forms. Formal organizations like firms are excellent at promoting cooperation, but knowledge communities are superior at fostering collaboration-the most important process in innovation. Rather than focusing on what encourages performance in formal organizations, we study what characteristics encourage aggregate superior performance in informal knowledge communities in computer science. Specifically, we explore the way knowledge communities both draw on past knowledge, as seen in citations, and use rhetoric, as found in writing, to seek a basis for differential success. We find that when using knowledge successful knowledge communities draw from a broad range of sources and are extremely flexible in changing and adapting. In marked contrast, when using rhetoric successful knowledge communities tend to use very similar vocabularies and language that does not move or adapt over time and is not unique or esoteric compared to the vocabulary of other communities. A better understanding of how inter-organizational collaborative network structures encourage innovation is important to understanding what drives innovation and how to promote it.

Keywords: Biotechnology, Characteristics, Citation Patterns, Citations, Collaboration, Combined Cocitation, Competition, Computer, Construction, Dynamic Clustering, Innovation, Isomorphism, Knowledge, Knowledge Communities, Market Orientation, Networks, Resource-Based View, Science, Science and Technology, Search, Technology, Word Analysis

? Upham, S.P., Rosenkopf, L. and Ungar, L.H. (2010), Positioning knowledge: Schools of thought and new knowledge creation. Scientometrics, 83 (2), 555-581.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics83, 555.pdf

Abstract: Cohesive intellectual communities called “schools of thought” can provide powerful benefits to those developing new knowledge, but can also constrain them. We examine how developers of new knowledge position themselves within and between schools of thought, and how this affects their impact. Looking at the micro and macro fields of management publications from 1956 to 2002 with an extensive dataset of 113,000+ articles from 41 top journals, we explore the dynamics of knowledge positioning for management scholars. We find that it is significantly beneficial for new knowledge to be a part of a school of thought, and that within a school of thought new knowledge has more impact if it is in the intellectual semi-periphery of the school.

Keywords: Articles, Citation Patterns, Clustering, Cocitation Analysis, Exploration, History, Impact, Innovation, Intellectual Structure, Journals, Knowledge, Management, Management Journals, Old, Publications, Schools of Thought, Science, Search, Specialties

? Breimer, L.H. (2010), Swedish biomedical PhD examination: An international forum and a proposed procedure for Europe. Scientometrics, 83 (2), 583-587.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics83, 583.pdf

Abstract: In 538 randomly selected Swedish biomedical PhDs from 2008, 50% of the external examiners came from abroad, most commonly USA and UK. The sex distribution between candidates was equal, while 17% of the external examiners were women. Twice as many women candidates as men had women examiners. Swedish PhDs are based on work published in international peer-reviewed journals, the median number of works per thesis was 4. The Swedish thesis examination system offers a model for international cross-fertilisation.

Keywords: Common Doctorate, Cross-Border Collaboration, Electronic Theses Dissertations (ETD), Europe, International Thesis Line, Internationalisation of Science, Journals, Model, Scientific Communication, System, Thesis, UK, USA

? Schubert, A. and Soos, S. (2010), Mapping of science journals based on h-similarity. Scientometrics, 83 (2), 589-600.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics83, 589.pdf

Abstract: Journals covered by the 2006 Science Citation Index Journal Citation Reports database have been subjected to a clustering procedure utilizing h-similarity as the underlying similarity measure. Clustering complemented with a prototyping routine provided well-conceivable results that are both compatible with and further refine existing taxonomies of science.

Keywords: Citation, Clustering, Community Structure, Database, h-Index, h-Similarity, Journal Citation Reports, Journals, Mapping, Mapping of Science, Networks, Science, Science Citation Index, Taxonomies

? Gorraiz, J., Gumpenberger, C., Hornbostel, S., Hinze, S., Glänzel, W. and Debackere, K. (2010), European Summer School for Scientometrics (ESSS) to be launched. Scientometrics, 83 (2), 601-602.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics83, 601.pdf

Keywords: Scientometrics

? Leta, J., Larsen, B., Rousseau, R. and Glänzel, W. (2010), The 12th International conference on scientometrics and informetrics. Scientometrics, 83 (3), 603-604

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics83, 603.pdf

Keywords: Informetrics, International, Scientometrics

? Mauleon, E. and Bordons, M. (2010), Male and female involvement in patenting activity in Spain. Scientometrics, 83 (3), 605-621.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics83, 605.pdf

Abstract: The involvement of male and female scientists in the technological activity developed in Spain is analysed through the study of patent applications filed with the Spanish OEPM database during the period 1990-2005. Comparative analyses based on participation, contribution and inventors by gender are presented and discussed. The study reveals a low female involvement in technology, which tends to concentrate in specific institutional sectors (public research institutions) and technological sections (A/Human Necessities and C/Chemistry). Over the 16-year period analysed the involvement of female scientists rose at a higher rate than that of men in most of the institutional sectors and technological fields. The highest relative increase corresponds to University and Spanish National Research Council, and our data suggest that it is enhanced by collaboration. To make the production of sex-disaggregated technology indicators easier the inclusion of the sex of the inventors as an additional field in patent databases would be desirable, as well as a higher normalisation of inventor names, applicant names (full names) and institutional affiliations.

Keywords: Academia, Applications, Collaboration, Contribution, Database, Databases, Gender, Gender, Indicators, Inventors, Patent, Patenting Activity, Public Research, Research, Research Institutions, Science, Spain, Spanish, Technological Activity, Technology, University

? Ajiferuke, I. and Wolfram, D. (2010), Citer analysis as a measure of research impact: Library and information science as a case study. Scientometrics, 83 (3), 623-638.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics83, 623.pdf

Abstract: The investigators studied author research impact using the number of citers per publication an author’s research has been able to attract, as opposed to the more traditional measure of citations. A focus on citers provides a complementary measure of an author’s reach or influence in a field, whereas citations, although possibly numerous, may not reflect this reach, particularly if many citations are received from a small number of citers. In this exploratory study, Web of Science was used to tally citer and citation-based counts for 25 highly cited researchers in information studies in the United States and 26 highly cited researchers from the United Kingdom. Outcomes of the tallies based on several measures, including an introduced ch-index, were used to determine whether differences arise in author rankings when using citer-based versus citation-based counts. The findings indicate a strong correlation between some citation and citer-based measures, but not with others. The findings of the study have implications for the way authors’ research impact may be assessed.

Keywords: Authors, Citation, Citation Analysis, Citation Analysis, Citations, Citer Analysis, Correlation, h-Index, Ideas, Impact, Information Science, Information Studies, Publication, Publications, Rankings, Research, Research Impact, Researchers, Science, United Kingdom, United States, Web of Science

? Yuan, J.P., Yue, W.P., Su, C., Wu, Z., Ma, Z., Pan, Y.T., Ma, N., Hu, Z.Y., Shi, F., Yu, Z.L. and Wu, Y.S. (2010), Patent activity on water pollution and treatment in China: A scientometric perspective. Scientometrics, 83 (3), 639-651.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics83, 639.pdf

Abstract: This research intends to investigate the patent activity on water pollution and treatment in China (1985-2007), and then compares the results with patents data about Triadic patents, South Korea, Brazil and India over the same periods, patents data were collected from Derwent World Patents Index between 1985 and May 2008. For this study, 169,312 patents were chosen and examined. Total volume of patents, technology focus, assignee sector, priority date and the comparison with other countries are analyzed. It is found that patents on water pollution and treatment filed at China have experienced a remarkable increase and the increase rate of patents filed at China change simultaneous with the percentage of domestic applications. However, the number of high quality Triadic patents with priority country as China remains small. Furthermore, in addition to individual patent assignees, both Chinese universities and enterprises also play important roles in patent activity of water pollution and treatment. In addition, the pattern of South Korea’s development can provide short-term implications for China and the regularity in Triadic patents’ development can provide some guidance to China’s long-term development. In contrast, the development pattern of Brazil and India is less influential to China’s development. Furthermore, China’s technology focuses on water pollution and treatment seem to parallel global and triadic patent trends. This research provides a comprehensive picture of China’s innovation capability in the area of water pollution and treatment. It will help China’s local governments to improve their regional S&T capability and will provide support the National Water Pollution Control and Treatment Project in China.

Keywords: Applications, Asia, Change, China, Comparison, Development, Development Efficiency, DWPI Database, Genetic-Engineering Research, Global, India, Indicators, Industry, Information, Innovation, Korea, Local, Patent, Patent Analysis, Patents, Play, Pollution, Research, Scientometrics, Statistics, Taiwan, Technologies, Technology, Treatment, Trends, Triadic Patents, Universities, Water, Water Pollution and Treatment in China

? White, H.D. (2010), Some new tests of relevance theory in information science. Scientometrics, 83 (3), 653-667.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics83, 653.pdf

Abstract: A central idea in Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson’s relevance theory is that an individual’s sense of the relevance of an input varies directly with the cognitive effects, and inversely with the processing effort, of the input in a context. I argue that this idea has an objective analog in information science-the tf*idf (term frequency, inverse document frequency) formula used to weight indexing terms in document retrieval. Here, tf*idf is used to weight terms from five bibliometric distributions in the context of the seed terms that generated them. The distributions include the descriptors co-assigned with a descriptor, the descriptors and identifiers assigned to an author, two examples of cited authors and their co-citees, and the books and journals cited with a famous book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. In each case, the highest-ranked terms are contrasted with lowest-ranked terms. In two cases, pennant diagrams, a new way of displaying bibliometric data, augment the tabular results. Clear qualitative differences between the sets of terms are intuitively well-explained by relevance theory.

Keywords: Bibliometric, Bibliometric Data, Bibliometrics, Books, Combining Bibliometrics, Information Science, Journals, Pennant Diagrams, Processing, Relevance Theory, Retrieval, Science, Tf*Idf, Theory

? Chen, C.M., Zhang, J. and Vogeley, M.S. (2010), Making sense of the evolution of a scientific domain: a visual analytic study of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey research. Scientometrics, 83 (3), 669-688.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics83, 669.pdf

Abstract: We introduce a new visual analytic approach to the study of scientific discoveries and knowledge diffusion. Our approach enhances contemporary co-citation network analysis by enabling analysts to identify co-citation clusters of cited references intuitively, synthesize thematic contexts in which these clusters are cited, and trace how research focus evolves over time. The new approach integrates and streamlines a few previously isolated techniques such as spectral clustering and feature selection algorithms. The integrative procedure is expected to empower and strengthen analytical and sense making capabilities of scientists, learners, and researchers to understand the dynamics of the evolution of scientific domains in a wide range of scientific fields, science studies, and science policy evaluation and planning. We demonstrate the potential of our approach through a visual analysis of the evolution of astronomical research associated with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) using bibliographic data between 1994 and 2008. In addition, we also demonstrate that the approach can be consistently applied to a set of heterogeneous data sources such as e-prints on arXiv, publications on ADS, and NSF awards related to the same topic of SDSS.

Keywords: AD, ADS, Clustering, Co-Citation, Co-Citation Network Analysis, Cocitation, Diffusion, Evaluation, Evolution, Knowledge, Network Analysis, Networks, Policy Evaluation, Publications, Research, Researchers, Science, Science Policy, SDSS, Selection, Techniques, Topic, Visual Analytics, Visualization

? Egghe, L. (2010), The distribution of the uncitedness factor and its functional relation with the impact factor. Scientometrics, 83 (3), 689-695.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics83, 689.pdf

Abstract: The uncitedness factor of a journal is its fraction of uncited articles. Given a set of journals (e.g. in a field) we can determine the rank-order distribution of these uncitedness factors. Hereby we use the Central Limit Theorem which is valid for uncitedness factors since it are fractions, hence averages. A similar result was proved earlier for the impact factors of a set of journals. Here we combine the two rank-order distributions, hereby eliminating the rank, yielding the functional relation between the impact factor and the uncitedness factor. It is proved that the decreasing relation has an S-shape: first convex, then concave and that the inflection point is in the point (mu’, mu) where mu is the average of the impact factors and mu’ is the average of the uncitedness factors.

Keywords: Articles, Central Limit Theorem, Impact, Impact Factor, Impact Factors, Journal, Journals, Rank Distribution, Rank-Order Distribution, S-Shape, Uncitedness Factor

? Glänzel, W. (2010), The role of the h-index and the characteristic scores and scales in testing the tail properties of scientometric distributions. Scientometrics, 83 (3), 697-709.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics83, 697.pdf

Abstract: The tail properties of scientometric distributions are studied in the light of the h-index and the characteristic scores and scales. A statistical test for the h-core is presented and illustrated using the example of four selected authors. Finally, the mathematical relationship between the h-index and characteristic scores and scales is analysed. The results give new insights into important properties of rank-frequency and extreme-value statistics derived from scientometric and informetric processes.

Keywords: Characteristic Scores and Scales, Citation Impact, h Index, h-Index, Indicators, Journals, Lomax Distribution, Ordered Statistics, Paretian Distribution, Renyi Presentation, Statistics

? Ruiz, C.F., Bonilla, R., Chavarro, D., Orozco, L.A., Zarama, R. and Polanco, X. (2010), Efficiency measurement of research groups using Data Envelopment Analysis and Bayesian networks. Scientometrics, 83 (3), 711-721.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics83, 711.pdf

Abstract: Applications of non-parametric frontier production methods such as Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) have gained popularity and recognition in scientometrics. DEA seems to be a useful method to assess the efficiency of research units in different fields and disciplines. However, DEA results give only a synthetic measurement that does not expose the multiple relationships between scientific production variables by discipline. Although some papers mention the need for studies by discipline, they do not show how to take those differences into account in the analysis. Some studies tend to homogenize the behaviour of different practice communities. In this paper we propose a framework to make inferences about DEA efficiencies, recognizing the underlying relationships between production variables and efficiency by discipline, using Bayesian Network (BN) analysis. Two different DEA extensions are applied to calculate the efficiency of research groups: one called CCRO and the other Cross Efficiency (CE). A BN model is proposed as a method to analyze the results obtained from DEA. BNs allow us to recognize peculiarities of each discipline in terms of scientific production and the efficiency frontier. Besides, BNs provide the possibility for a manager to propose what-if scenarios based on the relations found.

Keywords: Bayesian Networks, Data Envelopment Analysis, DEA, Efficiency, Efficiency Measurement, Groups, Impact, Indicators, Measurement, Methods, Model, Networks, Performance, Research, Research Groups, Research-And-Development, Scientific Production, Scientometrics

? Arencibia-Jorge, R. and de Moya-Anegon, F. (2010), Challenges in the study of Cuban scientific output. Scientometrics, 83 (3), 723-737.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics83, 723.pdf

Abstract: Cuban scientific output at macro level has not been frequently studied in the literature on scientometrics. The current paper explores the different metric approaches to the Cuban scientific activity carried out by national and international authors. Also, the article develops a scientometric study of the Cuban scientific production as included in Scopus during the period 1996-2007, using socio-economic indicators combined with bibliometric indicators supported by the SCImago Journal & Country Rank. Web of Science and Scopus are compared as information sources. Results confirm the possibility to use Scopus to obtain an objective picture of the Cuban science behaviour during the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the XXI century. The SCImago Journal & Country Rank, in this case, offers an important set of indicators. The combination of these indicators with those related to socio-economic aspects of activities in Science and Technology, allow the authors to show a perspective of the Cuban science system evolution during the period analyzed. The inclusion in Scopus of less-cited journals published in Spanish language and its impact on productivity and citation-based indicators is also discussed. Our investigation found an increasing growth of the Cuban scientific production during the whole period, which is in correspondence to the country efforts and expenditures in Research and Development activities.

Keywords: Bibliometric, Bibliometric Indicators, Citation, Countries, Cuba, Databases, Development, Evolution, GDP, Growth, Impact, Indicators, International, Journals, Language, Literature, Productivity, Research, Science, Scientific Output, Scientific Production, Scientometrics, Scimago, Scopus, Socio-Economic Indicators, Spanish, System, Technology, Web of Science

? Pislyakov, V. and Dyachenko, E. (2010), Citation expectations: are they realized? Study of the Matthew index for Russian papers published abroad. Scientometrics,