Personal Research Database

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics84, 887.pdf

Abstract: Year-on-year trends in research outputs show increases in research activity as the date of the research assessment exercise-in New Zealand the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF)-looms. Moreover, changes with time in the number and types of conference presentation indicate that the vehicle of publication is also being influenced by the PBRF. Within New Zealand business schools, relating the published journal articles to the Australian Business Deans Council rankings list shows a trend towards more publications of lower rank, raising doubts about whether the rhetoric about the PBRF raising the quality of research is really justified. This ‘drive’ towards increasing numbers of research outputs is also fostered by an increasing trend towards co-authorship in publishing across all disciplines.

Keywords: Author Collaboration, Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF), Publication, Research, Research Assessment Exercise, Research Collaboration, Research Outputs, Research Publications, Research Quality

? Mesnard, L. (2010), On Hochberg et al.’s “The tragedy of the reviewer commons”. Scientometrics, 84 (3), 903-917.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics84, 903.pdf

Abstract: We discuss each of the recommendations made by Hochberg et al. (Ecol Lett 12:2-4, 2009) to prevent the “tragedy of the reviewer commons”. Having scientific journals share a common database of reviewers would be to recreate a bureaucratic organization, where extra-scientific considerations prevailed. Pre-reviewing of papers by colleagues is a widespread practice but raises problems of coordination. Revising manuscripts in line with all reviewers’ recommendations presupposes that recommendations converge, which is acrobatic. Signing an undertaking that authors have taken into accounts all reviewers’ comments is both authoritarian and sterilizing. Sending previous comments with subsequent submissions to other journals amounts to creating a cartel and a single all-encompassing journal, which again is sterilizing. Using young scientists as reviewers is highly risky: they might prove very severe, and if they are not yet published authors themselves, the recommendation violates the principle of peer review. Asking reviewers to be more severe would only create a crisis in the publishing houses and actually increase reviewers’ workloads. The criticisms of the behavior of authors looking to publish in the best journals are unfair: it is natural for scholars to try to publish in the best journals and not to resign themselves to being second rate. Punishing lazy reviewers would only lower the quality of reports: instead, we favor the idea of paying reviewers “in kind” with, say, complimentary books or papers.

Keywords: Articles, Association, Book Reviews, Editor, Evaluative Content, Hochberg, Impact, Manuscripts, Publication, Publisher, Publishing, Referee, Referees, Reviewer, Science Journals, Sociology, Tragedy of the Commons

? Padial, A.A., Nabout, J.C., Siqueira, T., Bini, L.M. and Diniz, J.A.F. (2010), Weak evidence for determinants of citation frequency in ecological articles. Scientometrics, 85 (1), 1-12.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics85, 1.pdf

Abstract: Citation frequency has been considered a biased surrogate of publication merit. However, previous studies on this subject were based on small sample sizes and were entirely based on null-hypothesis significance testing. Here we evaluated the relative effects of different predictors on citation frequency of ecological articles using an information theory framework designed to evaluate multiple competing hypotheses. Supposed predictors of citation frequency (e.g., number of authors, length of articles) accounted for a low fraction of the total variation. We argue that biases concerning citation are minor in ecology and further studies that attempt to quantify the scientific relevance of an article, aiming to make further relationships with citation, are needed to advance our understanding of why an article is cited.

Keywords: Biases, Citation Frequency, Ecological Articles, Ecology, Journal Impact, Merit, Publication, Rates, Tool

? Giuliani, F., De Petris, M.P. and Nico, G. (2010), Assessing scientific collaboration through coauthorship and content sharing. Scientometrics, 85 (1), 13-28.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics85, 13.pdf

Abstract: Over the past decade there have been many investigations aimed at defining the role of scientists and research groups in their coauthorship networks. Starting from the assumptions of network analysis, in this work we propose an analytical definition of a collaboration potential between authors of scientific papers based on both coauthorships and content sharing. The collaboration potential can also be considered a useful tool to investigate the relationships between a single scientist and research groups, thus allowing for the identification of characteristic “types” of scientists (integrated, independent, etc.). We computed the collaboration potential for a set of authors belonging to research groups of an institute specialized in the field of Medical Genetics. The methods presented in the paper are rather general as they can be applied to compute a collaboration potential for a network of cooperating actors in every situation in which one can qualify the content of some activities and which of them are in common among the actors of the network.

Keywords: Classification, Coauthorships, Collaboration Potential, Community, Impact, Network Analysis, Patterns, R&D Networks, Research, Science, Scientific Collaborations, Semantic Web

? Fisher, E., Slade, C.P., Anderson, D. and Bozeman, B. (2010), The public value of nanotechnology? Scientometrics, 85 (1), 29-39.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics85, 29.pdf

Abstract: Science and innovation policy (SIP) is typically justified in terms of public values while SIP program assessments are typically limited to economic terms that imperfectly take into account these values. The study of public values through public value mapping (PVM) lacks widely-accepted methods for systematically identifying value structures within SIP and its public policy processes, especially when there are multiple stakeholder groups. This paper advances the study of public values in SIP using nanoscale science and engineering (NSE) policy by demonstrating that quantitative analysis of value statements can provide a credible and robust basis for policy analysis. We use content analysis of over 1,000 documents with over 100,000 pages from major contributors to the NSE policy discourse to identify and analyze a wide range of public value statements. Data analysis and reduction methods reveal a multifactor structure of public values that has been consistently cited by a range of actors in an NSE research policy network.

Keywords: Nanotechnology, Public Policy Analysis, Public Values, Research, Science And Technology Policy, Valuation

? Bartneck, C. and Hu, J. (2010), The fruits of collaboration in a multidisciplinary field. Scientometrics, 85 (1), 41-52.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics85, 41.pdf

Abstract: Collaboration between researchers and between research organizations is generally considered a desirable course of action, in particular by some funding bodies. However, collaboration within a multidisciplinary community, such as the Computer-Human Interaction (CHI) community, can be challenging. We performed a bibliometric analysis of the CHI conference proceedings to determine if papers that have authors from different organization or countries receive more citations than papers that are authored by members of the same organization. There was no significant difference between these three groups, indicating that there is no advantage for collaboration in terms of citation frequency. Furthermore, we tested if papers written by authors from different organizations or countries receive more best paper awards or at least award nominations. Papers from only one organization received significantly fewer nominations than collaborative papers.

Keywords: Bibliometric, Bibliometric Analysis, Bibliometrics, Citations, Collaboration, Impact, Organizations, Research, Science

? Aminpour, F., Kabiri, P., Boroumand, M.A., Keshtkar, A.A. and Hejazi, S.S. (2010), Iranian Medical Universities in SCIE: Evaluation of address variation. Scientometrics, 85 (1), 53-63.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics85, 53.pdf

Abstract: Applying different institutional addresses in the scientific production of a same university has underestimated the scientific production of Iranian universities and consequently lowered their position in the international academic rankings for a long time. The present study evaluated the scientific production of Iranian medical universities according to their institutional addresses registered in the papers indexed by Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE). By conducting a descriptive research we retrieved total SCIE indexed of top Iranian medical universities and their respective hospitals and research centers from the beginning of 1986 to the end of 2007. Then different variations of the institutional addresses of each university in the author affiliation of papers were assessed. Finally the universities were ranked according to observing a uniformed format for more registered addresses in SCIE. The findings showed unexpected diversity in the institutional affiliation of each university in their SCIE indexed papers. Although “Tehran University of Medical Sciences” showed the most variation in registering institutional addresses but ranked first according to observing unification for more addresses in the SCIE indexed papers comparing to the other universities. The problem of applying different institutional affiliations in the scientific production of the universities should be valued enough by the whole scientific community. Observing a uniformed format in registering institutional addresses of Iranian medical universities would affect their scientific credibility and international ranks through representing their real scientific productivity.

Keywords: Academic Rankings, Articles, Author Affiliation, Fatal Attraction, Institutional Affiliation, Iranian Universities, Rankings, Research, Science Citation Index Expanded, Scientific Productivity

? Su, H.N. and Lee, P.C. (2010), Mapping knowledge structure by keyword co-occurrence: A first look at journal papers in Technology Foresight. Scientometrics, 85 (1), 65-79.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics85, 65.pdf

Abstract: This study proposes an approach for visualizing a knowledge structure, the proposed approach creates a three-dimensional “Research focused parallelship network”, a “Keyword Co-occurrence Network”, and a two-dimensional knowledge map to facilitate visualization of the knowledge structure created by journal papers from different perspectives. The networks and knowledge maps can be depicted differently by choosing different information as the network actor, e.g. author, institute or country keyword, to reflect knowledge structures in micro-, meso-, and macro-levels, respectively. Technology Foresight is selected as an example to illustrate the method proposed in this study. A total of 556 author keywords contained in 181 Technology Foresight related papers have been analyzed. European countries, China, India and Brazil are located at the core of Technology Foresight research. Quantitative ways of mapping journal papers are investigated in this study to unveil emerging elements as well as to demonstrate dynamics and visualization of knowledge. The quantitative method provided in this paper shows a possible way of visualizing and evaluating knowledge structure, thus a computerized calculation is possible for potential quantitative applications, e.g. R&D resource allocation, research performance evaluation, science map, etc.

Keywords: Bibliometric Analysis, Co-Word Analysis, Database Tomography, Discovery Lrd, Infrastructure, Keyword, Knowledge Structure, Network Theory, Neural-Network Research, Parkinsons-Disease, Potential Treatments, Research, Science-And-Technology, Scientometrics, Technology Foresight

? Elkins, M.R., Maher, C.G., Herbert, R.D., Moseley, A.M. and Sherrington, C. (2010), Correlation between the Journal Impact Factor and three other journal citation indices. Scientometrics, 85 (1), 81-93.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics85, 81.pdf

Abstract: To determine the degree of correlation among journal citation indices that reflect the average number of citations per article, the most recent journal ratings were downloaded from the websites publishing four journal citation indices: the Institute of Scientific Information’s journal impact factor index, Eigenfactor’s article influence index, SCImago’s journal rank index and Scopus’ trend line index. Correlations were determined for each pair of indices, using ratings from all journals that could be identified as having been rated on both indices. Correlations between the six possible pairings of the four indices were tested with Spearman’s rho. Within each of the six possible pairings, the prevalence of identifiable errors was examined in a random selection of 10 journals and among the 10 most discordantly ranked journals on the two indices. The number of journals that could be matched within each pair of indices ranged from 1,857 to 6,508. Paired ratings for all journals showed strong to very strong correlations, with Spearman’s rho values ranging from 0.61 to 0.89, all p < 0.001. Identifiable errors were more common among scores for journals that had very discordant ranks on a pair of indices. These four journal citation indices were significantly correlated, providing evidence of convergent validity (i.e. they reflect the same underlying construct of average citability per article in a journal). Discordance in the ranking of a journal on two indices was in some cases due to an error in one index.

Keywords: Bibliometric Analysis, Citation Analysis, Impact Factor, Nonsense, Science, Sense, Tool

? Moehrle, M.G. (2010), Measures for textual patent similarities: A guided way to select appropriate approaches. Scientometrics, 85 (1), 95-109.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics85, 95.pdf

Abstract: The measurement of textual patent similarities is crucial for important tasks in patent management, be it prior art analysis, infringement analysis, or patent mapping. In this paper the common theory of similarity measurement is applied to the field of patents, using solitary concepts as basic textual elements of patents. After unfolding the term ‘similarity’ in a content and formal oriented level and presenting a basic model of understanding, a segmented approach to the measurement of underlying variables, similarity coefficients, and the criteria-related profiles of their combinations is lined out. This leads to a guided way to the application of textual patent similarities, interesting both for theory and practice.

Keywords: Infringement Analysis, Patent, Patent Mapping, Prior Art Analysis, Representations, Science Maps, Similarity Coefficients, Similarity Measurement

? Ohniwa, R.L., Hibino, A. and Takeyasu, K. (2010), Trends in research foci in life science fields over the last 30 years monitored by emerging topics. Scientometrics, 85 (1), 111-127.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics85, 111.pdf

Abstract: We report here a simple method to identify the ‘emerging topics’ in life sciences. First, the keywords selected from MeSH terms on PubMed by filtering the terms based on their increment rate of the appearance, and, then, were sorted into groups dealing with the same topics by ‘co-word’ analysis. These topics were defined as ‘emerging topics’. The survey of the emerging keywords with high increment rates of appearance between 1972 to 2006 showed that emerging topics changed dramatically year by year, and that the major shift of the topics occurred in the late 90s, the topics that cover technical and conceptual aspects in molecular biology to the more systematic ‘-omics’-related and nanoscience-related aspects. We further investigated trends in emerging topics within various sub-fields in the life sciences.

Keywords: Co-Word Analysis, Co-Word Analysis, Emerging Topics, Knowledge, Mesh Terms, Networks, Patterns, Pubmed, Research, Trends In Life Science

? Parker, J.N., Lortie, C. and Allesina, S. (2010), Characterizing a scientific elite: The social characteristics of the most highly cited scientists in environmental science and ecology. Scientometrics, 85 (1), 129-143.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics85, 129.pdf

Abstract: In science, a relatively small pool of researchers garners a disproportionally large number of citations. Still, very little is known about the social characteristics of highly cited scientists. This is unfortunate as these researchers wield a disproportional impact on their fields, and the study of highly cited scientists can enhance our understanding of the conditions which foster highly cited work, the systematic social inequalities which exist in science, and scientific careers more generally. This study provides information on this understudied subject by examining the social characteristics and opinions of the 0.1% most cited environmental scientists and ecologists. Overall, the social characteristics of these researchers tend to reflect broader patterns of inequality in the global scientific community. However, while the social characteristics of these researchers mirror those of other scientific elites in important ways, they differ in others, revealing findings which are both novel and surprising, perhaps indicating multiple pathways to becoming highly cited.

Keywords: Authors, Citation, Citation Analysis, Ecology, Environmental Science, Gender-Differences, Highly-Cited, Level, Productivity, Publication Output, Scientific Elite, Specialization, Stratification

? Pouris, A. (2010), A scientometric assessment of the Southern Africa Development Community: Science in the tip of Africa. Scientometrics, 85 (1), 145-154.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics85, 145.pdf

Abstract: This article reports the results of a scientometric assessment of the Southern Africa Development Community countries. The National Science Indicators database of Thomson-Reuters and the online ISI Web of Knowledge are utilized in order to identify the number of publications of the 15 countries over a period of 15 years, the activity and relative impact indicators of 22 scientific disciplines for each country and their collaborative patterns. It is identified that South Africa with 19% of the population in the region is responsible for 60% of the regional GDP and 79% of the regions publications. All countries tend to have the same focus in their disciplinary priorities and underemphasize disciplines such as engineering, materials science and molecular biology. It is expressed concern that the current research infrastructures are inadequate to assist in reaching the objectives developed in the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan of the Community.

Keywords: Assessment, Impact, Indicators, ISI, Research, SADC, Scientometrics, Southern Africa

? Schultz, L.I. and Joutz, F.L. (2010), Methods for identifying emerging General Purpose Technologies: A case study of nanotechnologies. Scientometrics, 85 (1), 155-170.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics85, 155.pdf

Abstract: Nanotechnology is an emerging field of science with the potential to generate new and enhance existing products and transform the production process. US patent data is used to track the emergence of nanotechnologies since 1978. The nanotechnologies that have undergone the most development are identified using patent citation data and cocitation patterns of patents are examined to define clusters of related nanotechnologies. The potential for economic impact of the emerging nanotechnologies is assessed using a generality index.

Keywords: Citation Analysis, Field, General Purpose Nanotechnology, Nanotechnologies, Nanotechnology, Patents, Science, Terms, US

? Levitt, J.M. and Thelwall, M. (2010), Does the higher citation of collaborative research differ from region to region? A case study of Economics. Scientometrics, 85 (1), 171-183.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics85, 171.pdf

Abstract: Many studies have found that collaborative research is, in general, more highly cited than non-collaborative research. This paper describes an investigation into the extent to which the association between high citation and collaboration for Economics articles published in 2000 varies from region to region and depends on the choice of indicator of citation level. Using data from the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) for 18 countries, 17 American states and four indicators of citation level the citation levels of the collaborative articles are compared with the citation levels of the non-collaborative articles. The main findings are that: (a) for every country and every indicator the mean citation level of the collaborative articles was at least as high as that for the non-collaborative articles, but for five US states and for at least one other indicator the citation level of collaborative articles was lower than that of non-collaborative articles, and (b) the extent to which collaborative articles were more highly cited varied considerably from country to country, from state to state, and from indicator to indicator. This indicates the importance of using multiple indicators when investigating citation advantage since the choice of indicator can change the results.

Keywords: Articles, Bibliometric Approach, Citation, Citation Analysis, Co-Authorship, Impact, International Collaboration, Publication, Relative Indicators, Research, Research Collaboration, Science, Scientific Collaboration, Self-Citations, Us

? Prathap, G. (2010), An iCE map approach to evaluate performance and efficiency of scientific production of countries. Scientometrics, 85 (1), 185-191.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics85, 185.pdf

Abstract: An indicator called the performance index (p-index) which can effectively combine size and quality of scientific papers, mocking what the h-index could do, emerges from an energy like term E = iC, where i is a measure of quality, expressed as the ratio of citations C to papers published P. In this paper, we demonstrate how this energy paradigm can be used for bibliometric research assessment. The energy assessment technique is demonstrated by applying it to the research assessment of all the countries listed in Essential Science Indicators. Partitioning is easily done by using contour lines on the two-dimensional iCE (impact-Citations-Energy) map.

Keywords: Bibliometric, Bibliometrics, E = IC, Efficiency, Energy-Index, h Index, h-Index, h-Index, Hirsch-Type Indexes, ICE Maps, P-Index, Performance, Quality, Quantity, Research

? Pautasso, M. (2010), Worsening file-drawer problem in the abstracts of natural, medical and social science databases. Scientometrics, 85 (1), 193-202.

Full Text: 2010\Scientometrics85, 193.pdf

Abstract: The file-drawer problem is the tendency of journals to preferentially publish studies with statistically significant results. The problem is an old one and has been documented in various fields, but to my best knowledge there has not been attention to how the issue is developing in a quantitative way through time. In the abstracts of various major scholarly databases (Science and Social Science Citation Index (1991-2008), CAB Abstracts and Medline (1970s-2008), the file drawer problem is gradually getting worse, in spite of an increase in (1) the total number of publications and (2) the proportion of publications reporting both the presence and the absence of significant differences. The trend is confirmed for particular natural science topics such as biology, energy and environment but not for papers retrieved with the keywords biodiversity, chemistry, computer, engineering, genetics, psychology and quantum (physics). A worsening file-drawer problem can be detected in various medical fields (infection, immunology, malaria, obesity, oncology and pharmacology), but not for papers indexed with strings such as AIDS/HIV, epidemiology, health and neurology. An increase in the selective publication of some results against some others is worrying because it can lead to enhanced bias in meta-analysis and hence to a distorted picture of the evidence for or against a certain hypothesis. Long-term monitoring of the file-drawer problem is needed to ensure a sustainable and reliable production of (peer-reviewed) scientific knowledge.

Keywords: Citation, Guide, History of Science, Manuscript, Meta-Analysis, Obesity, Psychiatry, Publication Bias, Publication Explosion, Scientific Knowledge, Significant Differences, STM Publishing, Tests

? Franceschini, F., Maisano, D., Perotti, A. and Proto, A. (2010), Analysis of the ch-index: an indicator to evaluate the diffusion of scientific research output by citers. Scientometrics,