Showing papers in "Scientometrics in 1993"

The measurement of international scientific collaboration

Abstract: A growing science policy interest in international scientific collaboration has brought about a multitude of studies which attempt to measure the extent of international scientific collaboration between countries and to explore intercountry collaborative networks. This paper attempts to clarify the methodology that is being used or can be used for this purpose and discusses the adequacy of the methods. The paper concludes that, in an analysis of collaborative links, it is essential to use both absolute and relative measures. The latter normalize differences in country size. Each yields a different type of information. Absolute measures yield an answer to questions such as which countries are central in the international network of science, whether collaborative links reveal a centre — periphery relationship, and which countries are the most important collaborative partners of another country. Relative measures provide answers to questions of the intensity of collaborative links.

Tracing the knowledge transfer from science to technology as reflected in patent indicators

Abstract: The use of references of patent search reports as transfer indications needs a good theoretical understanding of the underlying examination procedures. On this background, different patent indicators based on sample patents and on respective references can be established and combined to a network which gives an interesting insight into the complex process of knowledge transfer from science to technology.

Historical scientometrics? Mapping over 70 years of biological safety research with coword analysis

Abstract: This paper relates the results of a co-word analysis of over 70 years of biological safety literature. The database used in this project is theSonger Safety Bibliography (SSB) which lists around 17 000 references. The results show biological safety to be a very fragmented field, characterized by the existence of several relatively independent foci of interest, none of which has been able to structure the field into a tight network. Early periods of activity were marked by the construction of the basic tools of biological safety practices. Those tools became a robust package which, in more recent periods, was used routinely. While the safety problems related to recombinant DNA research have received much attention in the general press, they do not seem to occupy a prominent place within the biological safety literature, at least the one compiled in SSB.

The delineation of specialties in terms of journals using the dynamic journal set of the SCI

Abstract: In order to attribute journals to specialties in a dynamic journal set by using aggregated journal-journal citations derived from theScience Citation Index, it is necessary to complement the multi-variate analysis of this data with a time-serices perspective. This calls for a more analytical approach to the problem of choice among the many possible parameters for clustering. Changes in the disciplinary structure of science are tracked by using thedifferences among the multi-variate analyses for the various years. It is impossible to attribute change systematically to structure, noise, or deviance if these uncertainties are not clearly definedex ante. The study discusses the various choices which have to be made, in both conceptual and methodological terms. In addition to hierarchies among journals, one has to assume heterarchy among journal groups (and their centroids). For comprehensive mapping, a concept of “macro-journals” as representations of a density of points in the multi-dimensinoal space is defined. Empirical reslts indicate the feasibility of dynamic journal-journal mapping by using these methods.

Macro-level changes in the structure of co-citation clusters: 1983–1989

Abstract: At ISI we have used a consistent method for clustering the combinedScience Citation Index andSocial Sciences Citation Index for the last seven years (1983 to 1989). This method involves clustering highly cited documents by single-link clustering and then clustering the resultant clusters, a total of four times. This gives a hierarchical or nested structure of clusters four levels deep. Relationships among clusters at a given level can be depicted by multidimensional scaling, and by comparing successive year maps we can see how the relationships of major disciplines have changed from year to year. We focus mainly on the two highest levels of aggregation, C4 and C5, to make observations about structural changes in science involving the major disciplines. Distinction is made between changes which appear to be cyclic or oscillatory in nature, and those which appear to be more permanent or unidirectional.

The neural net of neural network research

Abstract: In this paper we discuss the limits and potentials of bibliometric mapping based on a specific co-word analysis. The subject area is neural network research. Our approach is a ‘simulation’ of expert assessment by offering the reader a narrative of the field which can be used as background information when ‘reading’ the bibliometric maps. The central issue in the applicability of bibliometric maps is whether these maps may supply ‘additional intelligence’ to users. In other words, whether such a bibliometric tool has an epistemological value, in the sense that it ecriches existing knowledge by supplying ‘unexpected’ relations between specific ‘pieces’ of knowledge (‘synthetic value’) or by supplying ‘unexpected’ problems (‘creative value’). We argue that sophisticated bibliometric mapping techniques are indeed valuable for open new avenues to study science as a self-organizing system in the form of a ‘neural network like’ structure of which the bibliometric map is a first-order aproximation. In that sense, this paper deals with the ‘neural net of neural network research’ as our bibliometric techniques in fact mimic a connectionistic approach.

Age and the Nobel prize revisited

Abstract: This paper analyzes the relationship between age and productivity for Nobel prize winners in science during the period 1901–1992. The relationship found is field dependent as well as dependent upon the definition used to measure the age at which the ward-winning work was done. The results suggest that although it does not require extraordinary youth to do prizewinning work, the odds decrease markedly in mid-life and fall off precipitously after age 50, particularly in chemistry and physics. The discussion underscores the problem of drawing conclusions about the age structure of research by examining medians instead of the entire distribution.

Research contribution, authorship and team cooperativeness

Abstract: Activity shares in different types of research work for coauthors of scientific papers were detected by questionnaire methods. It was found e.g. that first authors perform about 70% of the total work needed for two authored papers, which decreases to 34% for papers with five authors. From Total Activity Shares determined for coauthors Total Team Contribution Factors could be calculated for cooperating teams. Total as well as Intramural and Extramural Team Cooperativeness for research teams were obtained by relating shares of impact factor scores for the investigated teams to the total.

Research performance indicators for university departments: A study of an agricultural university

Abstract: The present bibliometric study extends previous work by focusing on the research performance of departments in the natural and life sciences, the social and behavioral sciences, and the humanities. The present study covers all 70 departments from one agricultural university, and several veterinary departments of a second university. The impact analysis was extended by including other types of documents than journal articles. For about a third of the departments, publications not covered in citation indexes accounted for at least 30% of the citations to their total oeuvre. To deal with different citation and publication habits in the various fields, both short-term and medium-term impact assessments were made. The commonly used three year window is not universally applicable, as our results show. The inclusion of self-citations forms an important source of error in the ratio of actual/expected impact. To cope with this, the trend and level of self-citations was compared at university level with that in a matched sample of publications. Moreover, at a departmental level, self-citation rates were used to detect departments with divergent levels of self-citation. The expected impact of journals accounted for only 18% of the variance in actual impact. Comparison of bibliometric indicators with two peer evaluations showed that the bibliometric impact analyses provided important additional information.

Reference standards for citation based assessments

Abstract: One of the most crucial points of citation-based assessments is to find proper reference standards to which the otherwise meaningless plain citation counts can be compared. Using such standards, mere absolute numbers can be turned into relative indicators, suitable for cross-national and cross-field comparisons. In the present study, three possible choice of reference standards for citation assessments are discussed. Citation rates of publications under study can be compared to the average citation rates of the papers of the publishing journals to result inRelative Citation Rate (RCR), an indicator successfully used in several comparative scientometric analyses (see, e.g. Refs 1–5). A more “customized” reference set is defined by therelated records in the new CD Edition of theScience Citation Index database. Using the socalled “bibliographic coupling” technique, a set of papers with a high measure of similarity in their list of references is assigned to every single paper of the database. Beside of being an excellent retrieval tool, related records provide a suitable reference set to assess the relative standing of a given set of papers as measured by citation indicators. The third choice introduced in this study is specifically designed for assessing journals. For this purpose, the set of journals cited by the journal in question seems to be a useful basis to compare with. The pros and cons of the three choices are discussed and several examples are given.

The use of patent titles for identifying the topics of invention and forecasting trends

Abstract: Co-word analysis applied to patents through WPIL normalized title words appears to give a useful picture of a given field: we obtain both qualitative (themes) and quantitative information (weight of themes). It also gives information about the strategic aspects of the themes. Furthermore, in some cases, it is an indication of the future of certain themes that may help forecasting and management studies. Finally, it provides information about what could be a real technology growth process, in relation to the so-called translation model used in co-word analysis.

Latin American scientific output 1986–91 and international co-authorship patterns

Abstract: Results are presented of a study covering 1986–91 of the scientific output of Latin American nations. The distribution of the output within the countries is shown: in most countries there is a high concentration in the national capital. The papers co-authored with scientists from other countries are also examined. There has been a notable rise in both the number and proportion of papers co-authored within the region, with the USA and Canada, and, especially, with the countries of the European Community, where a programme of International Scientific Co-operation, to promote just such links, has been active since the mid-1980s in many Latin American countries.

Scientific quality in the eyes of the scientist. A questionnaire study

Abstract: In a questionnaire study Swedish university scientists in different research areas were asked about their conceptions of scientific quality. The items concerned relationships between quality and the research effort, the researcher, the research environment, research effects, research policy and organization, research financing and research evaluation. 224 persons (56% of the sample) answered. Results showed that researchers shared views on scientific quality, but there were also a number of differences between soft and hard sciences. It is concluded that the differences largely support the distinction between “human” and natural sciences, as well as the one between pre-paradigmatic and paradigmatic sciences. Implications for the evaluation of research are discussed.

On the influence of growth on obsolescence

Abstract: In many papers, the influence of growth on obsolescence is studied but a formal model for such an influence has not been constructed. In this paper, we develop such a model and find different results for the synchronous and for the diachronous study. We prove that, in the synchronous case, an increase of growth implies an increase of the obsolescence, while, in the diachronous case, exactly the opposite mechanism is found. Exact proofs are given, based on the exponential models for growth as well as obsolescence. We leave open a more general theory.

Delimitation of scientific subfields using cognitive words from corporate addresses in scientific publications

Abstract: An appropriate delimitation of scientific subfields constitutes one of the key problems in bibliometrics. Several methods have been explored for this task. The main ones are co-citation analysis, co-word analysis, the use of indexing systems based on controlled or uncontrolled keywords, and finally the use of a classification of scientific journals into subfields or categories. In our contribution we will explore a new method, which is based on cognitive words from addresses (corporate sources) in scientific publications. Cognitive address words are words referring to scientific (sub)fields, methods or objects of research, that appear in the institutional affiliations of the publishing authors (e.g., ‘Department of Pharmacology’, AIDS Research Center’). We will focus on theScience Citation Index (SCI), published by the Institute for Scientific Information. Our methods will be applied to a multidisciplinary set of articles extracted from the journalsScience andNature.

Modeling multinational publication: development of an on-line fractionation approach to measure national scientific output

Abstract: This study of multinational publication (publications involving authors from more than one country) focuses on a viable method of fractionation, which can be used in on-line bibliometric research. Fractionation occurs when the credit for co-authored papers is added only partially to the total of publications of countries or authors. We attempted to find an empirical relation between the share of a country's papers in some field that is multinationally co-authored and the degree of fractionation which results. A linear regression analysis yielded a significant correlation of −0.95. The fractionation method is the first that can be applied to publication data collected on-line. A comparison is made with fractionation by first author (i.e., first address) counting. Application of the method to British scientific output for 1984–1989 suggests that British output was stable. The fractionation method can be applied to both natural and life sciences and to social and behavioral sciences. Findings suggest that similar processes of multinational publication are prevalent in both types of science. Implications of the model are discussed.

Theoretical foundation of the 80/20 rule

Abstract: A rigorous analysis of the 80/20 rule is made using an index for the observed values of the variables. Three important findings are identified. First, a sufficient condition is provided for Burrell's inverse relationship between minimum holdings and average circulation rate. Second, an indexed version of Lotka's law is used to derive a sufficient condition for Egghe's finding on the 80/20 rule. Third, through the computer simulations of the Simon-Yule model of Lotka's law, we identify the entry rate of new holdings as well as the number of circulations when the entry rate is a decreasing function to be crucial factors for the pattern of the 80/20-type curve.

Scientometric indicators datafiles

Abstract: The structure of a comprehensive set of publication output and citation impact indicators is reviewed. Hints to the application of the indicators are given in one, two and more dimensions.

Measuring national output in physics: Delimitation problems

Abstract: In a study of the Dutch publication output in physics we tested methods of delimitating fields by journal categories in theScience Citation Index (SCI) compared to the classification of individual publications into subfields in the subject specific databasePhysics Briefs (PHYS). Different methods of measuring national scientific output were compared as well. In this paper we report the main findings on these issues, based on a study of six selected subfields in physics. The main conclusion with respect to the use of different classification methods is that in most of the selected fields in physics the method which delimitates fields by journal categories yields an incomplete picture of the output of a country. Particularly because this method neglects a considerable number of articles published in general journals. With respect to different methods of counting publications it was corroborated by the Dutch data inPhysics Briefs that: 1. so-called ‘integer counted’ world shares are very much influenced by the degree of ‘internationalisation’ and 2. ‘first author counting’ gives a satisfactory approximation of ‘fractional counting’. Citation indicators based on ‘first author counting’, however, may be distorted in fields with a large fraction of international co-authored publications.

Dependence of publication-rate on size of some university groups and departments in U. K. and Greece in comparison with N. C. I., USA

Abstract: In a series of studies aimed at investigating the dependence of per-capita research output (R), of an interacting group of research workers, on the size of the group, the author had shown that the per-capita research output of various research groups and institutes in U. S. A., U. K., Pakistan and Bangladesh shows an initial approximately linear rise, followed by one or more mixima, the first one being at group size of 6 to 8 persons. In the present communication, we present a fine analysis of the reported data for (a) physics departments of U. K. universities (in 1985–86) and (b) mathematics departments of two universities in Greece (from 1975 to 1984), using close sampling-intervals of ΔN=2 and 3 for group-sizes. The results of this reanalysis show that the data for U. K. physics departments exhibits a series of peaks ofper-capita research output (R) at N=11, 19, 25, 36, 46, etc., which compare well with the corresponding maxima already found in the 1977per-capita output of National Cancer Institute, U. S. A., at N=7, 15, 26, 34 and 44. Comparison of these two yields the followingmean positions for the five peaks viz N=9±2, 17±2, 26±0, 35±1 and 45±1. These appear to be close to multiples of 8.5, indicating the possibility that a sub-group of 8 to 9 persons could be forming abasic unit of interaction in these particular research groups. The data from the mathematics departments of two Greek universities, which falls in the range of N=20 to N=44, also shows two maxima, of per-capita output at N=27 and 34.5 (and possibly one at about 18), which fit in well with the pattern described above. It appears likely that the above concept could open up new avenues in management practices. Accordingly, further studies are in hand on the relevant characteristics of the output of various institutes and, if possible, a fuller study of size and nature of the sub-groups noted above.

Cross-national assessment of specialization patterns in chemistry

Abstract: In this study, the specialization profiles of eleven countries are compared along two interconnected but distinct dimensions of research, viz. publication output and citation impact in nine subfields of chemistry. The data for comparative analysis were taken from Scientometric Datafiles.1Since raw counts of publications and citations are confounded by the size of the countries and the size of subject fields, cross-national comparison is made, using relative indicators—activity index and attractivity index. The subfields of relative strength and weakness for these countries are identified from the values of these indicators. The similarity structure of specialization profiles of the eleven countries is mapped, using hierarchical cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling. This mapping leads to the representation of chemistry as it is structured by the dynamics of national science policies of these countries.

A scientometric cognitive study of neural network research: expert mental maps versus bibliometric maps

Abstract: This paper reports on a quantitative analytical methodology which deals with perceptions of scientific experts regarding the intellectual shape and contents (‘cognitive structure’) of their scientific domain. This study examines the method's utility for studying expert views in general, and, more specifically, its strengths and weaknesses as a tool for improving validation studies of bibliometric maps involving subject experts. The main premise is that expert views are based on their internal knowledge structures (‘mental schemes’) of which relevant features can be captured in quantitative data. This approach allows a rigorous and systematic way of studying mental schemes across subject experts. Spatial representations of their data (‘mental maps’) provide insight in properties underlying those knowledge structures. Data from different experts are reconciled to construct a ‘common’ mental map which displays a group view. This study includes a test to establish the validity of individual mental maps and common mental maps. The methodology is applied to the views of 14 researchers in the field of neural network research and related areas. Key-findings are: (i) mental maps can provide valid representations of expert mental schemes, (ii) experts sharing the same subject field are more likely to share views, (iii) expert judgements of bibliometric maps are affected by the structure of their own mental schemes, as well as (iv) by their views regarding the utility of those maps, and (v) common mental maps and a bibliometric co-word map based on the same set of items differ significantly, showing a resemblance on main features only.

Analysis of citation and co-citation in chemical engineering

Abstract: This paper presents the results of the citation study in 24 leading journals on chemical engineering for 1987. The selective methodology or the analysis of co-citation limited only to this discipline is based on relatively low thresholds of citation and co-citation. The established research fronts refer mostly to basic research. The flow of information and knowledge to chemical engineering is determined to the extent of 70–90% by the works in this very field, as is indicated by the analysis of citations. The geography of research fronts was determined. The USSR has a very low fraction of frontal papers. This can be explained by the publication of papers in Russian and by a large number of secondary and applied research. This type of research is revealed by frequent citation of books and a small fraction of highly cited papers.

Citation status of Turkish physics publications in foreign journals: A global analysis

Abstract: We have studied the citation rates and characteristics of 572 Turkish physics publications that appeared in the source journals listed in theScience Citation Index (SCI) for the period 1982–1990 to drive the following results: The papers appeared in a set of 94 journals, and 68% of the total output went to 21 of these; half of which are journals of high impact. On the average, papers from Turkey that appeared in the American and European journals are cited at rates higher than the corresponding “average” papers. There has been a substantial shift of Turkish papers from European journals to American journals over the last few years. These changes are an example of the process by which science in a less developed country becomes integrated into the word scientific community.

Conferences and courses on biotechnology. Describing scientific communication by exploratory methods

Abstract: The importance of conferences, courses, workshops, and other kinds of scientific meetings is still growing, especially in highly dynamic or multidisciplinary fields of knowledge. Since these meetings are usually the first occasion of communicating scientific findings, it seems worthwhile to use data on conferences in order to depict trends in science and technology, at an early point of time. Nevertheless, only a few studies on these types of scientific and technological communication were undertaken until now. One prominent example for the relevance of conferences and for the necessity of some monitoring is the field of the “new” biotechnology. We followed a “conference approach” by using data on 4,674 meetings that took place in the time span 1984–90. Content analytic methods (a coding scheme of 70 categories) seemed to be appropriate, according to the textual type of data (information about the meetings, mostly programs). Distributions of categories show specific features and multiple correspondence analyses of concatenated Burt matrices of the categories, differentiated to the years provide a broad overview of biotechnological conferences and other types of meetings in the eighties. Connections between fields of knowledge and applications or certain characteristics of the meetings can be summarized in five clusters of features which are relatively stable within the time frame of investigation.

Approach to the Cuban scientific activity by using publication based quantitative indicators (1985–1989)

Abstract: An estimation about Cuban scientific productivity based on output indicators during the period 1985–1989 is provided. Nine international bibliographic databases and three Cuban repertories have been used. Except for journal articles, no other type of Cuban document gets worldwide recognition as they are not generally included in the international databases. The greater effort in research is made in Agriculture, Biomedicine, Chemistry and Engineering, but this last topic does not reach international visibility, since the majority of its results are published in local journals. The Cuban contribution to the “mainstream” of world science is increasing annually. Collaboration in high level research projects existed mainly between Cuba and either USSR, German Democratic Republic and Italy. The most productive Cuban institutions in collaborative programs are the Havana University and the Academy of Sciences.

Measuring “publications output” and “publications impact” of faculty members of a university chemistry department

Abstract: The publication and citation records of a group of 34 senior members of the faculty of the Department of Chemistry at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology over the period 1980–90 have been analyzed under the contention that dealing with a small group makes it possible for one to pay adequate attention to the methodology of the measurement and analysis processes. Choosing the most suitable index for measuring “Publications Output” has been considered in detail; it is suggested that it is essential to make allowances for both the number of co-authors and for the lengths of publications in order to obtain a more valid measure than is provided by a simple count of equally-weighted publications. Analogously it is argued that simple citation counts provide an inadequate measure of the impact that publications make on the group outside the authors' immediate circle and thus that it is necessary to subtract self citations and divide the credit for a citation among the co-authors of the publication. Results of the analysis show that in agreement with all previous findings a few members (perhaps less than 20%) produce more than half the publications and receive more than half the citations of the Group as a whole.

Authorship patterns in CJNR: 1970–1991

Abstract: This article looks at authorship patterns in CJNR from 1970 to 1991. A tally was taken of the number of single, double and multiple authorships for each year which, in turn, were combined into one seven year and three five year intervals. Frequency counts were converted into percentages, chi-squares were computed, and author/article ratios were calculated for each year. Results revealed a decrease in the number of single authored articles and an increase in the number of co-and multiple authored articles from 1982 on. The author/article ratios fluctuated somewhat, but, overall showed marked increases. It was tentatively concluded that nursing is not unlike other disciplines, that it too is experiencing changes in authorship patterns. Reasons for the changes are tendered along with suggestions for further research.

Variables associated with agricultural scientists' work alienation and publication productivity

Abstract: This study focuses on work alienation and publication productivity of agricultural scientists in two international research centers. Previous research has been criticized because the variables emphasized have typically been poorly correlated with publication productivity. Additionally, although work alienation of professionals has received considerable attention in the literature, seldom has it been included in empirical studies of publication productivity. Results indicate two perceptions of structure, centralization and formalization, are significantly correlated with work alienation, but less so with publication productivity. Work alienation is significantly, but modestly, correlated with publication productivity. In a multiple regression analysis, work alienation proved to be less important than perceived centralization. Implications for supervisors of scientific staffs include reducing the layers of hierarchy and empowering staff by giving them a voice in research goals and organizational operations.

The science strategy index

Abstract: A new indicator, Science Strategy Index, is proposed, which is based on the scattering of a country's science activity over all science fields and related to the world distribution of the science fields. The indicator allows to compare the structure of the publication output of countries as reflected by the used database, irrespective of the size of the countries. If the science structure of each country is related for comparison to that one of each other country, the indicator converts into a structure measure which enables to cluster countries according to their structural similarity. The cluster map of countries achieved in this way deserves intense discussion upon the different science strategies of countries and their geographic, political, communicative, and socio-cultural background.