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arXiv · 1211.5820

A bird's-eye view of scientific trading: Dependency relations among fields of science

Erjia Yan·Ying Ding·Blaise Cronin·Loet Leydesdorff
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Abstract

We use a trading metaphor to study knowledge transfer in the sciences as well as the social sciences. The metaphor comprises four dimensions: (a) Discipline Self-dependence, (b) Knowledge Exports/Imports, (c) Scientific Trading Dynamics, and (d) Scientific Trading Impact. This framework is applied to a dataset of 221 Web of Science subject categories. We find that: (i) the Scientific Trading Impact and Dynamics of Materials Science And Transportation Science have increased; (ii) Biomedical Disciplines, Physics, And Mathematics are significant knowledge exporters, as is Statistics & Probability; (iii) in the social sciences, Economics, Business, Psychology, Management, And Sociology are important knowledge exporters; (iv) Discipline Self-dependence is associated with specialized domains which have ties to professional practice (e.g., Law, Ophthalmology, Dentistry, Oral Surgery & Medicine, Psychology, Psychoanalysis, Veterinary Sciences, And Nursing).

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Erjia Yan, Ying Ding, Blaise Cronin, Loet Leydesdorff. 2012-11-25. A bird's-eye view of scientific trading: Dependency relations among fields of science. https://arxiv.org/abs/1211.5820

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