Showing papers in "Scientometrics in 1997"
TL;DR: How the impact (average citations per paper) varies with different types of collaboration is explored to demonstrate that collaborating with an author from the home institution or another domestic institution increases the average impact by approximately 0.75 citations.
Abstract: Interest in collaboration is increasing in policy circles. There are numerous international and national programs to encourage collaboration, for example, between university and industry researchers. However, little is know about the way in which collaboration changes the impact of a research publication. This paper explores how the impact (average citations per paper) varies with different types of collaboration. A calibrated bibliometric model is derived that demonstrates that collaborating with an author from the home institution or another domestic institution increases the average impact by approximately 0.75 citations while collaborating with an author from a foreign institution increases the impact by about 1.6 citations.
356 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that the core research activities of scientometries fall in four interrelated areas: science and technology indicators, information systems onscience and technology, the interaction with colleague-scientists, and cognitive as well as socioorganisational structures in science andtechnology.
Abstract: In this presentation we argue that the core research activities of scientometries fall in four interrelated areas: science and technology indicators, information systems on science and technology, the interaction between science and technology, and cognitive as well as socioorganisational structures in science and technology.
194 citations
TL;DR: It has been shown that the investigations dealing with graphite nanotubes represent kinetically the most active field of research in the nanosciences.
Abstract: A number of advantages of nanostructured materials over bulk materials and their potential applications in many scientific and technological fields have been revealed in recent years. To find out the main growth and trends of this exciting new scienence and technology fields the growth rate of the nano-prefixed terms in the title of journal papers has been measured. It has been shown that the investigations dealing with graphite nanotubes represent kinetically the most active field of research in the nanosciences.
172 citations
TL;DR: A general framework for creating large scale document spaces as well as some new methods which perform some of the individual processing steps are presented.
Abstract: Science mapping projects have been revived by the advent of virtual reality software capable of navigating large synthetic three dimensional spaces. Unlike the earlier mapping efforts aimed at creating simple maps at either a global or local level, the focus is now on creating large scale maps displaying many thousands of documents which can be input into the new VR systems. This paper presents a general framework for creating large scale document spaces as well as some new methods which perform some of the individual processing steps. The methods are designed primarily for citation data but could be applied to other types of data, including hypertext links.
149 citations
TL;DR: The most promising approach is the parallel observation of patents and publications in order to analyse the dynamics of the interaction of science and technology and the professional move of academic and industrial researchers between institutions.
Abstract: The relationship between science and technology is an important issue, as science-based technologies play a key role in modern economies. The exploration of the science-technology interface can be effectively supported by quantitative indicators, in particular patents of scientific institutions, publications of industrial enterprises, and scientific references in patent search reports. The most promising approach is the parallel observation of patents and publications in order to analyse the dynamics of the interaction of science and technology and the professional move of academic and industrial researchers between institutions.
147 citations
TL;DR: It is shown that Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) ca be used to construct relative scientific and technological indicators to assess the efficiency of countries.
Abstract: It is shown that Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) can be used to construct relative scientific and technological indicators. The method is explained and illustrated using countries as objects of study; GDP, active population and R&D expenditure as inputs, and publications and patents as outputs. Using these parameters the efficiency of countries is assessed.
122 citations
TL;DR: It is the hypothesis that the MEC provides an additional approach for the assessment of the scientific performance of nations when their “national loss of citations” amounts to a high percentage of their expected citations.
Abstract: In this paper newly established characteristics of the so-called Matthew Effect for Countries (MEC) are presented: field-dependency, time-stability, order of magnitude. We find that the MEC is observable in all main scientific fields that were investigated. Over fifteen years the MEC has been relatively stable. The MEC is a redistribution phenomenon at the macro-level of the sciences. Its magnitude is small; the MEC affects only about five percent of the world production of citations. The MEC, however, crucially impacts many nations when their “national loss of citations” amounts to a high percentage of their expected citations. The relationship between the MEC and Merton's Matthew Principle is discussed. It is our hypothesis that the MEC provides an additional approach for the assessment of the scientific performance of nations.
115 citations
TL;DR: The paper draws attention to one proposed theory and discusses the potential reasons why it has not been generally accepted as the theory of citations, despite its merits in explaining many phenomena in the citation behaviour of scientists.
Abstract: The paper discusses the often lamented lack of a theory of citations, and the lack of a sociological theory in particular. It draws attention to one proposed theory and discusses the potential reasons why it has not been generally accepted as the theory of citations, despite its merits in explaining many phenomena in the citation behaviour of scientists. This theory has been expounded by Latour and presented, in particular, in his book entitledScience in Action.
92 citations
TL;DR: Quality of collaborative research is measured by the citation rate over the four years following the year of publication, and there is no significant difference between the quality of collaborative and individual research.
Abstract: The study reports an empirical comparison of quality of collaborative research with the quality of individual research. Quality of a paper is measured by the citation rate over the four years following the year of publication. Papers published in fourteen Finance journals between 1987–1991 are sampled. There is no significant difference between the quality of collaborative and individual research. Decision-makers should hesitate in interpreting collaborative research as a definitive sign of ability to produce better research.
72 citations
TL;DR: The distribution of the number of authors per paper in this field, the proportion of male and female authors, gender composition of research teams, and the incidence of collaborative relationships spanning institutional affiliations and across different geographic regions are determined.
Abstract: This paper examines the patterns of multiple authorship in five information systems journals. Specifically, we determine the distribution of the number of authors per paper in this field, the proportion of male and female authors, gender composition of research teams, and the incidence of collaborative relationships spanning institutional affiliations and across different geographic regions.
66 citations
TL;DR: Using the network of aggregated journal-journal citations in Science & Technology Studies as an empirical case, the operation of such subdynamics can be demonstrated and policy implications and the consequences for a theory-driven type of scientometrics will be elaborated.
Abstract: The theory of citations should not consider cited and/or citing agents as its sole subject of study. One is able to study also the dynamics in the networks of communications. While communicating agents (e.g., authors, laboratories, journals) can be made comparable in terms of their publication and citation counts, one would expect the communication networks not to be homogeneous. The latent structures of the network indicate different codifications that span a space of possible “translations”. The various subdynamics can be hypothesized from an evolutionary perspective. Using the network of aggregated journal-journal citations inScience & Technology Studies as an empirical case, the operation of such subdynamics can be demonstrated. Policy implications and the consequences for a theory-driven type of scientometrics will be elaborated.
TL;DR: Detailed discussion of the results reveals that an external explanation is insufficient for the exponential growth as well as balancing phenomena in war and post-war times and an internal approach is suggested.
Abstract: The number of chemical substances is considered as a cumulative measure of the cognitive growth of preparative chemistry. During the past 200 years there is approximately exponential growth without saturation. Separate analysis of organic and inorganic chemistry suggests at least a two-phase model either. Detailed discussion of the results (considering also the growth of chemists, chemical papers, patents, and chemical elements) reveals that an external (socio-economical) explanation is insufficient. Instead, an internal (methodological) approach is suggested to explain the exponential growth as well as balancing phenomena in war and post-war times.
TL;DR: An intensification of international scientific collaboration was observed, especially for a number of former COMECON countries, and different types of behaviour for different countries and science subfields emerged.
Abstract: The present study is focused on international collaboration in science, involving more than two countries. The authors developed a promising model to measure and analyse the extent of multilateral co-authorship links in a previous study. The model is based on a series expansion approach which relates a new indicator, the Multilateral Collaboration Index (ρ), to the share of internationally co-authored papers (f). The model was found suitable to classify both the share of international papers, as well as the extent of multilateral links through the deviations from their expectations. A comparative analysis is made of changing collaboration patterns between 1983 and 1993 for 8 selected subfields, as well as all fields combined of the most active 38 countries. As expected an intensification of international scientific collaboration was observed, especially for a number of former COMECON countries. Different types of behaviour for different countries and science subfields emerged.
TL;DR: A search of international databases on agriculture and natural resource management in Ghana, Kenya, and Kerala was used to compile a bibliography that could be compared with results from a face-to-face survey of researchers, and indicates that, many of the characteristics of those who are internationally visible differ from the wider population of scientists.
Abstract: Much of what we know about science and technology in less developed countries comes from international databases such as bibliographies and citation, indices. However, it is not clear if researchers whose work appears in international databases are representative of scientists in the developing world as a whole, or whether they differ in terms of important social characteristics. A search of international databases on agriculture and natural resource management in Ghana, Kenya, and Kerala was used to compile a bibliography that could be compared with results from a face-to-face survey of researchers. Results indicate that, many of the characteristics of those who are internationally visible differ from the wider population of scientists. The implication is that the “view from afar” based exclusively on information drawn from international databases does not accurately reflect the population of researchers or domestic productivity in less developed countries.
TL;DR: The findings indicate that publishing in journals with relatively high impact factor is a necessary but not sufficient condition for attaining a high RW index.
Abstract: Relations of three relative scientometric indicators (Relative Citation Rate, RCR, Relative Subfield Citedness, RW, and Relative Publication Strategy, RPS) are studied. RW can be calculated by the percentage share of citations divided by that of publications. The findings indicate that publishing in journals with relatively high impact factor is a necessary but not sufficient condition for attaining a high RW index.
TL;DR: The patterns of behaviour reflected in the coauthorship networks of the invisible colleges of physics, resemble the general structure of relations identified in social networks beyond the communities of scholars.
Abstract: The characteristic structure underlying interpersonal relations in social networks in general is identifiable in a great number of such social processes, as the spread of diseases, the propagation of information, the change of views or the dissemination of technological innovations. The patterns of behaviour reflected in the coauthorship networks of the invisible colleges of physics, resemble the general structure of relations identified in social networks beyond the communities of scholars. The patterns of behaviour are portrayed both as two-dimensional and three-dimensional models.
TL;DR: Different corpuses are analysed by means of co-word analysis, in the framework of technological watch of the industrial valorization of plant proteins, which reveals unequal results, raising the question of the relevance of information retrieval.
Abstract: Different corpuses are analysed by means of co-word analysis, in the framework of technological watch of the industrial valorization of plant proteins. The comparison of keyword clusters reveals unequal results, raising the question of the relevance of information retrieval. The corpuses compiled do not provide all the important signals that can be expected from this type of study. Research on several data bases (five) provides increasingly detailed images which allow for rapid progress, with the experts, towards critical points of information.
TL;DR: The results show that scientific collaboration plays a key role for all universities, and that they collaborate with external institutions in just about the same extent, and the inter-Nordic network is of equal importance as the national network in physics and geosciences.
Abstract: Scientific collaboration has become a major issue in science policy. The need to survey and follow up such collaboration calls for statistical indicators sensitive enough to reveal the structure and change of collaborative networks. Bibliometric analysis of co-authored scientific articles is one promising approach. This study presents data generated from a comprehensive analysis of some 20,000 articles produced by 22 Nordic universities (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden) in 1993. The results show that scientific collaboration plays a key role for all universities, and that they collaborate with external institutions in just about the same extent. The inter-Nordic university network comprises about ten percent of all institutional collaborations. However, the amount of collaboration varies across fields, physics and medicine having a high degree of collaboration. The inter-Nordic network is of equal importance as the national network in physics and geosciences. Especially, when one looks at international collaboration outside the Nordic arena, the number of overlapping partners is quite low. This suggests that research specialization is the major force governing international contacts.
TL;DR: A new indicator, the Multilateral Collaboration Index (ρ) is introduced and analysed as a function of the share of internationally co-authored papers (f) and a series expansion approach is applied that can be considered an extension of a fractionation model by Nederhof andMoed and allows classifying the extent of multilateral links both among science fields and among individual countries.
Abstract: International co-operation has strongly intensified during the last decades owing to rapid developments in scientific communication. Economic, political, and intra-scientific factors also strongly influence international collaboration links among individual countries. Obviously research results of international scientific co-operation are reflected in the documented scientific communication as international co-authorship links in scientific publications. Most bibliometric studies on this issue pertain to the share of international co-authored papers in national publication output and their impact on national and international research, or to the analysis and mapping of the structure of collaboration links. The present study attempts to develop a model to measure and analyse the extent of multilateral international co-authorship links. A new indicator, the Multilateral Collaboration Index (ρ) is introduced and analysed as a function of the share of internationally co-authored papers (f). Based onf a series expansion approach is applied that can be considered an extension of a fractionation model byNederhof andMoed and allows classifying the extent of multilateral links both among science fields and among individual countries. The paper is concluded by a first attempt to estimate the errors involved in our approach.
TL;DR: The method is illustrated by calculating the generalised JIF, self-citations and ECIF(isi) as well as the international impact for Journal of Documentation and Scientometrics.
Abstract: The article describes the method for the online determination of the journal impact factor (JIF). The method is very simple and can be used both for the ISI defined journal impact factor and for the calculation of other generalised journal impact factors. But the direct online method fails for non-ISI journals i.e. journals not indexed by ISI to the three citation databases. For such journals only the “External Cited Impact Factor” associated with citations from ISI journals (ECIFisi) can be determined online by the common method. As an extra benefit the online method makes available the determination of the geographical distribution of citations and citable units in relation to any given JIF, i.e. the international impact for a particular journal in a given year. The method is illustrated by calculating the generalised JIF, self-citations and ECIF(isi) as well as the international impact for Journal of Documentation and Scientometrics.
TL;DR: A content analysis of 300 communications to the Angewandte Chemie of the years 1980, 1990, and 1995 is carried out regarding aims and methods of preparative research.
Abstract: Chemistry, as today's most active science, has increased its substances exponentially during the past 200 years without saturation. To get more insight why and how chemists produce new substances, a content analysis of 300 communications to theAngewandte Chemie of the years 1980, 1990, and 1995 is carried out regarding aims and methods of preparative research. In the most productive field of organic chemistry production mainly occurs to improve abilities for further production, while the less productive field of inorganic chemistry has more diverse aims. Methodological differences between organic and inorganic chemistry are discussed in detail as well as the relationship between pure and applied science.
TL;DR: A qualitative model is proposed to better understand the mutual interactions involved in the creation of the SCI and may give insight in the development of hybrid and heterogenous scientific specialties like scientometrics.
Abstract: Hardly anyoee will dispute that the creation of theScience Citation Index has made an important difference to science. It is less clear, however, in what way the science system has been influenced. This article proposes a qualitative model to better understand the mutual interactions involved. Science is pictured as an information processing cycle. Its quality is maintained in the “peer review cycle”. The main upshot of theSCI has been the creation of a second-order cycle on top of the primary knowledge production cycle. This is the citation cycle. The specialty of scientometrics has a key role in this citation cycle. The model enables a more profound understanding of the various feed back processes between the two cycles. Moreover, it may give insight in the development of hybrid and heterogenous scientific specialties like scientometrics.
TL;DR: A study of the structure and scientific activity of the most productive Spanish research teams in two biomedical subfields, Pharmacology & Pharmacy and Cardiovascular System (SCI), during the period 1990–93 was carried out through bibliometric indicators.
Abstract: A study of the structure and scientific activity of the most productive Spanish research teams in two biomedical subfields, Pharmacology & Pharmacy and Cardiovascular System (SCI), during the period 1990–93 was carried out through bibliometric indicators. The teams were characterized according to their size, production, productivity, research level and expected impact factor of their output, collaboration pattern and interdisciplinarity. Main differences between both subfields were analyzed and explained by their different clinical/basic character. The study was undertaken to identify structural or dynamic features of teams associated with good scientific performance.
TL;DR: A closer look at how scientometricians aggregate building blocks into artfully made products, and point-represent these allows one to overcome the dependence on judgements of scientists for validation, and replace or complement these with intrinsic validation, based on quality checks of the several steps.
Abstract: While scientometrics is now an established field, there are challenges. A closer look at how scientometricians aggregate building blocks into artfully made products, and point-represent these (e.g. as the map of field X) allows one to overcome the dependence on judgements of scientists for validation, and replace or complement these with intrinsic validation, based on quality checks of the several steps. Such quality checks require qualitative analysis of the domains being studied. Qualitative analysis is also necessary when noninstitutionalized domains and/or domains which do not emphasize texts are to be studied. A further challenge is to reflect on the effects of scientometrics on the development of science; indicators could lead to `induced? aggregation. The availability of scientometric tools and insights might allow scientists and science to become more reflexive.
TL;DR: An experimental method for the evaluation of scientific papers in the field of oncology and related disciplines developed at the National Institute for Cancer Research (IST), Genoa, Italy, based on the partitioning of categories of the SCI-JCR into deciles is presented.
Abstract: The paper presents an experimental method for the evaluation of scientific papers in the field of oncology and related disciplines developed at the National Institute for Cancer Research (IST), Genoa, Italy. The method is based on the partitioning of categories of theScience Citation Index-Journal Citation Reports (SCI-JCR) into deciles, thus normalizing Impact Factor (IF), in order to guage the quality of the productivity. A second parameter related to the number of staff of each department co-authoring a given paper has been introduced for the allocation of Institute funding. The following studies have been carried to compare the assigned score and the average number of citations of papers published by a research group. The identification of correctives is in progress. The method provides a basis for a possible method to judge the quality of publications from within a research organization, and should be reproducible independently of the disciplines considered.
TL;DR: This paper shows how Database Tomgraphy can be used to derive technical intelligence from the published literature and applications of Database Tomography to analyses of both the non-technical field of Research Impact Assessment (RIA) and the technical field of Chemistry.
Abstract: This paper shows how Database Tomgraphy can be used to derive technical intelligence from the published literature Database Tomography is a patented system for analyzing large amounts of textual computerized material It includes algorithms for extracting multi-word phrase frequencies and performing phrase proximity analyses Phrase frequency analysis provides the pervasive themes of a database, and the phrase proximity analysis provides the relationships among the pervasive themes, and between the pervasive themes and sub-themes One potential application of Database Tomography is to obtain the thrusts and interrelationships of a technical field from papers published in the literature within that field This paper provides applications of Database Tomography to analyses of both the non-technical field of Research Impact Assessment (RIA) and the technical field of Chemistry A database of relevant RIA articles was analyzed to produce characteristics and key features of the RIA field The recent prolific RIA authors, the journals prolific in RIA papers, the prolific institutions in RIA, the prolific keywords specified by the authors, and the authors whose works are cited most prolifically as well as the particular papers/journals/institutions cited most prolifically, are identified The pervasive themes of RIA are identified through multi-word phrase of the database A phrase proximity analysis of the database shows the relationships among the pervasive themes, and the relationships between the pervasive themes and subthemes A similar process was applied to Chemistry, with the exception that the database was limited to one year's issues of the Journal of the American Chemical Society Wherever possible, the RIA and Chemistry results were compared Finally, the conceptual use of Database Tomography to help identify promising research directions was discussed
TL;DR: The reactions of Usenet News users' to “mad cow disease” is examined and some similarities between the bibliometric characteristics of news items on an electronic medium and the physically printed scientific literature are revealed.
Abstract: In this paper the reactions of Usenet News users' to “mad cow disease” is examined. Thousands of newsgroups on an extremely wide variety of subjects exist, and anyone, having access to the Internet, can express his/her thoughts freely on this medium. We collected information on the news items relevant to “mad cow disease” for a period of one hundred days starting very close to the eruption of the crisis. The analysis of the collected information reveals some similarities between the bibliometric characteristics of news items on an electronic medium and the physically printed scientific literature. As far as we know, this is one of the first attempts to systematically apply bibliometric methods to the Internet.
TL;DR: The top 12 Third World Countries are discussed vis-à-vis their population, Gross National Product, and the extent of participation using observed rates of contribution in each discipline and expected rates based on numbers of citations received.
Abstract: This paper discusses the publications of Third World Countries (TWC) in theScience Citation Index by disciplines. TWC documents which were nationally cross-linked at least 20 times were identified and their citing documents categorised into seven disciplines. The top 12 TWC are discussed vis-a-vis their population, Gross National Product, and the extent of participation usingobserved rates of contribution in each discipline andexpected rates based on numbers of citations received. Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Chile, appeared most frequently in the top five ranks in each of the seven disciplines; however, none of these countries had neither the largest population nor the highest GNP per capita. Overall observed rates exceeded expected rates in all but two disciplines: Biomedicine and Agriculture. Physics & Engineering had the highest overall observed rate with the top five TWC exceeding the overall and their individual expected rates. Brazil and Venezuela led by exceeding their expected rates in four of the seven disciplines.
TL;DR: It is shown that the maps, enriched with scientometric indicators of strengths and weaknesses of national research efforts, can be important tools for science policy.
Abstract: We have developed a method to identify and map the internationally most visible research topics occurring in the social and behavioral sciences, as well as the topics which changed most over a decade. Methods and data relevent to a portfolio analysis of national research efforts are described. Keywords used by authors in scientific or scholarly publications provide a window on scientific developments and changes in scientific research. Using an interdisciplinary database, the SSCI, developments in publications were traced world-wide and for the US, UK, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. We compared two periods: 1981–85 and 1986–90 We discuss the major substantive developments occurring during 1981–1990, as visible in maps depicting both topics and disciplines. It is shown that the maps, enriched with scientometric indicators of strengths and weaknesses of national research efforts, can be important tools for science policy. The findings indicate that the research front on many topics in both social and behavioral sciences is international in the late 1980s.