arXiv subjects

Loet Leydesdorff

Publications and source records attributed to Loet Leydesdorff.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2013

Scientometrics

The paper provides an overview of the field of scientometrics, that is: the study of science, technology, and innovation from a quantitative perspective. We cover major historical milestones in the development of this specialism from the 1960s to today and discuss its relationship with the sociology of scientific knowledge, the library and information sciences, and science policy issues such as indicator development. The disciplinary organization of scientometrics is analyzed both conceptually and empirically, using a map of journals cited in the core journal of the field, entitled Scientometrics. A state-of-the-art review of five major research threads is provided: (1) the measurement of impact; (2) the delineation of reference sets; (3) theories of citation; (4) mapping science; and (5) the policy and management contexts of indicator developments.

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arXiv2013

Which percentile-based approach should be preferred for calculating normalized citation impact values? An empirical comparison of five approaches including a newly developed citation-rank approach (P100)

Percentile-based approaches have been proposed as a non-parametric alternative to parametric central-tendency statistics to normalize observed citation counts. Percentiles are based on an ordered set of citation counts in a reference set, whereby the fraction of papers at or below the citation counts of a focal paper is used as an indicator for its relative citation impact in the set. In this study, we pursue two related objectives: (1) although different percentile-based approaches have been developed, an approach is hitherto missing that satisfies a number of criteria such as scaling of the percentile ranks from zero (all other papers perform better) to 100 (all other papers perform worse), and solving the problem with tied citation ranks unambiguously. We introduce a new citation-rank approach having these properties, namely P100. (2) We compare the reliability of P100 empirically with other percentile-based approaches, such as the approaches developed by the SCImago group, the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS), and Thomson Reuters (InCites), using all papers published in 1980 in Thomson Reuters Web of Science (WoS). How accurately can the different approaches predict the long-term citation impact in 2010 (in year 31) using citation impact measured in previous time windows (years 1 to 30)? The comparison of the approaches shows that the method used by InCites overestimates citation impact (because of using the highest percentile rank when papers are assigned to more than a single subject category) whereas the SCImago indicator shows higher power in predicting the long-term citation impact on the basis of citation rates in early years. Since the results show a disadvantage in this predictive ability for P100 against the other approaches, there is still room for further improvements.

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arXiv2013

Rotational Symmetry and the Transformation of Innovation Systems in a Triple Helix of University-Industry-Government Relations

Using a mathematical model, we show that a Triple Helix (TH) system contains self-interaction, and therefore self-organization of innovations can be expected in waves, whereas a Double Helix (DH) remains determined by its linear constituents. (The mathematical model is fully elaborated in the Appendices.) The ensuing innovation systems can be expected to have a fractal structure: innovation systems at different scales can be considered as spanned in a Cartesian space with the dimensions of (S)cience, (B)usiness, and (G)overnment. A national system, for example, contains sectorial and regional systems, and is a constituent part in technological and supra-national systems of innovation. The mathematical modeling enables us to clarify the mechanisms, and provides new possibilities for the prediction. Emerging technologies can be expected to be more diversified and their life cycles will become shorter than before. In terms of policy implications, the model suggests a shift from the production of material objects to the production of innovative technologies.

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arXiv2013

International Co-authorship Relations in the Social Science Citation Index: Is Internationalization Leading the Network?

We analyze international co-authorship relations in the Social Science Citation Index 2011 using all citable items in the DVD-version of this index. Network statistics indicate four groups of nations: (i) an Asian-Pacific one to which all Anglo-Saxon nations (including the UK and Ireland) are attributed; (ii) a continental European one including also the Latin-American countries; (iii) the Scandinavian nations; and (iv) a community of African nations. Within the EU-28 (including Croatia), eleven of the EU-15 states have dominant positions. Collapsing the EU-28 into a single node leads to a bi-polar structure between the US and EU-28; China is part of the US-pole. We develop an information-theoretical test to distinguish whether international collaborations or domestic collaborations prevail; the results are mixed, but the international dimension is more important than the national one in the aggregated sets (this was found in both SSCI and SCI). In France, however, the national distribution is more important than the international one, while the reverse is true for most European nations in the core group (UK, Germany, the Netherlands, etc.). Decomposition of the USA in terms of states shows a similarly mixed result; more US states are domestically oriented in SSCI, whereas more internationally in SCI. The international networks have grown during the last decades in addition to the national ones, but not by replacing them.

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arXiv2013

The revised SNIP indicator of Elsevier's Scopus

The modified SNIP indicator of Elsevier, as recently explained by Waltman et al. (2013) in this journal, solves some of the problems which Leydesdorff & Opthof (2010 and 2011) indicated in relation to the original SNIP indicator (Moed, 2010 and 2011). The use of an arithmetic average, however, remains unfortunate in the case of scientometric distributions because these can be extremely skewed (Seglen, 1992 and 1997). The new indicator cannot (or hardly) be reproduced independently when used for evaluation purposes, and remains in this sense opaque from the perspective of evaluated units and scholars.

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arXiv2013

Challenges for regional innovation policies in CEE countries: Spatial concentration and foreign control of US patenting

Using techniques of data collection and mapping as overlays to Google Maps--on the basis of patent information available online at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)--we point at two major and interconnected challenges that policy-makers face in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) when combating the lagging innovation performance. First, we address the spatial concentration by using a distribution analysis at the city level. The results suggest that patenting is concentrated in post-socialist territories more than in western nations and regions. However, there is not a single outstanding hub in CEE when one compares USPTO patents normalized for the respective population sizes. Secondly, we argue that dominance of foreign control over USPTO patents is mostly embodied in international co-operations at the individual level, and only rarely spilled-over to MNE subsidiaries. In our opinion, catching-up of CEE in terms of patenting is unlikely, unless innovation policy measures focus on growing hubs and target both domestic inventors and international relations of companies.

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arXiv2013

Detecting the historical roots of research fields by reference publication year spectroscopy (RPYS)

We introduce the quantitative method named "reference publication year spectroscopy" (RPYS). With this method one can determine the historical roots of research fields and quantify their impact on current research. RPYS is based on the analysis of the frequency with which references are cited in the publications of a specific research field in terms of the publication years of these cited references. The origins show up in the form of more or less pronounced peaks mostly caused by individual publications which are cited particularly frequently. In this study, we use research on graphene and on solar cells to illustrate how RPYS functions, and what results it can deliver.

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arXiv2013

The "Academic Trace" of the Performance Matrix: A Mathematical Synthesis of the h-Index and the Integrated Impact Indicator (I3)

The h-index provides us with nine natural classes which can be written as a matrix of three vectors. The three vectors are: X=(X1, X2, X3) indicate publication distribution in the h-core, the h-tail, and the uncited ones, respectively; Y=(Y1, Y2, Y3) denote the citation distribution of the h-core, the h-tail and the so-called "excess" citations (above the h-threshold), respectively; and Z=(Z1, Z2, Z3)= (Y1-X1, Y2-X2, Y3-X3). The matrix V=(X,Y,Z)T constructs a measure of academic performance, in which the nine numbers can all be provided with meanings in different dimensions. The "academic trace" tr(V) of this matrix follows naturally, and contributes a unique indicator for total academic achievements by summarizing and weighting the accumulation of publications and citations. This measure can also be used to combine the advantages of the h-index and the Integrated Impact Indicator (I3) into a single number with a meaningful interpretation of the values. We illustrate the use of tr(V) for the cases of two journal sets, two universities, and ourselves as two individual authors.

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arXiv2013

Group-Based Trajectory Modeling of Citations in Scholarly Literature: Dynamic Qualities of "Transient" and "Sticky Knowledge Claims"

Group-based Trajectory Modeling (GBTM) is applied to the citation curves of articles in six journals and to all citable items in a single field of science (Virology, 24 journals), in order to distinguish among the developmental trajectories in subpopulations. Can highly-cited citation patterns be distinguished in an early phase as "fast-breaking" papers? Can "late bloomers" or "sleeping beauties" be identified? Most interesting, we find differences between "sticky knowledge claims" that continue to be cited more than ten years after publication, and "transient knowledge claims" that show a decay pattern after reaching a peak within a few years. Only papers following the trajectory of a "sticky knowledge claim" can be expected to have a sustained impact. These findings raise questions about indicators of "excellence" that use aggregated citation rates after two or three years (e.g., impact factors). Because aggregated citation curves can also be composites of the two patterns, 5th-order polynomials (with four bending points) are needed to capture citation curves precisely. For the journals under study, the most frequently cited groups were furthermore much smaller than ten percent. Although GBTM has proved a useful method for investigating differences among citation trajectories, the methodology does not enable us to define a percentage of highly-cited papers inductively across different fields and journals. Using multinomial logistic regression, we conclude that predictor variables such as journal names, number of authors, etc., do not affect the stickiness of knowledge claims in terms of citations, but only the levels of aggregated citations (that are field-specific).

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arXiv2013

Mutual Redundancies in Inter-human Communication Systems: Steps Towards a Calculus of Processing Meaning

The study of inter-human communication requires a more complex framework than Shannon's (1948) mathematical theory of communication because "information" is defined in the latter case as meaningless uncertainty. Assuming that meaning cannot be communicated, we extend Shannon's theory by defining mutual redundancy as a positional counterpart of the relational communication of information. Mutual redundancy indicates the surplus of meanings that can be provided to the exchanges in reflexive communications. The information is redundant because based on "pure sets," that is, without subtraction of mutual information in the overlaps. We show that in the three-dimensional case (e.g., of a Triple Helix of university-industry-government relations), mutual redundancy is equal to mutual information (Rxyz = Txyz); but when the dimensionality is even, the sign is different. We generalize to the measurement in N dimensions and proceed to the interpretation. Using Luhmann's social-systems theory and/or Giddens' structuration theory, mutual redundancy can be provided with an interpretation in the sociological case: different meaning-processing structures code and decode with other algorithms. A surplus of ("absent") options can then be generated that add to the redundancy. Luhmann's "functional (sub)systems" of expectations or Giddens' "rule-resource sets" are positioned mutually, but coupled operationally in events or "instantiated" in actions. Shannon-type information is generated by the mediation, but the "structures" are (re-)positioned towards one another as sets of (potentially counterfactual) expectations. The structural differences among the coding and decoding algorithms provide a source of additional options in reflexive and anticipatory communications.

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arXiv2013

Technology Transfer and the End of the Bayh-Dole Effect: Patents as an Analytical Lens on University-Industry-Government Relations

Three periods can be distinguished in university patenting at the U.S. Patent and Trade Office (USPTO) since the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980: (1) a first period of exponential increase in university patenting till 1995 (filing date) or 1999 (issuing date); (2) a period of relative decline since 1999; and (3) in most recent years -- since 2008 -- a linear increase in university patenting. We argue that this last period is driven by specific non-US universities (e.g., Tokyo University and Chinese universities) patenting increasingly in the U.S.A. as the most competitive market for high-tech patents.

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arXiv2013

Interdisciplinarity at the Journal and Specialty Level: The changing knowledge bases of the journal Cognitive Science

Using the referencing patterns in articles in Cognitive Science over three decades, we analyze the knowledge base of this literature in terms of its changing disciplinary composition. Three periods are distinguished: (1) construction of the interdisciplinary space in the 1980s; (2) development of an interdisciplinary orientation in the 1990s; (3) reintegration into "cognitive psychology" in the 2000s. The fluidity and fuzziness of the interdisciplinary delineations in the different visualizations can be reduced and clarified using factor analysis. We also explore newly available routines ("CorText") to analyze this development in terms of "tubes" using an alluvial map, and compare the results with an animation (using "visone"). The historical specificity of this development can be compared with the development of "artificial intelligence" into an integrated specialty during this same period. "Interdisciplinarity" should be defined differently at the level of journals and of specialties.

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arXiv2013

The Disclosure of University Research for Third Parties: A Non-Market Perspective on an Italian University

Nations, universities, and regional governments commit resources to promote the dissemination of scientific and technical knowledge. One focuses on knowledge-based innovations and the economic function of the university in terms of technology transfer, intellectual property, university-industry-government relations, etc. Faculties other than engineering or applied sciences, however, may not be able to recognize opportunities in this "linear model" of technology transfer. We elaborate a non-market perspective on the third mission in terms of disclosure of the knowledge and areas of expertise available for disclosure to other audiences at a provincial university. The use of ICT can enhance communication between actors on the supply and demand sides. Using an idea originally developed in the context of the Dutch science shops, the university staff was questionnaired about keywords and areas of expertise with the specific purpose of disclosing this information to audiences other than academic colleagues. The results were brought online in a thesaurus-like structure that enables users to access the university at the level of individual email address. This model stimulates variation on both the supply and demand side of the innovation process, and strengthens the accessibility and embeddedness of the knowledge base in a regional economy.

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arXiv2013

International Collaboration in Science: The Global Map and the Network

The network of international co-authorship relations has been dominated by certain European nations and the USA, but this network is rapidly expanding at the global level. Between 40 and 50 countries appear in the center of the international network in 2011, and almost all (201) nations are nowadays involved in international collaboration. In this brief communication, we present both a global map with the functionality of a Google Map (zooming, etc.) and network maps based on normalized relations. These maps reveal complementary aspects of the network. International collaboration in the generation of knowledge claims (that is, the context of discovery) changes the structural layering of the sciences. Previously, validation was at the global level and discovery more dependent on local contexts. This changing relationship between the geographical and intellectual dimensions of the sciences also has implications for national science policies.

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arXiv2013

Innovation as a Nonlinear Process, the Scientometric Perspective, and the Specification of an "Innovation Opportunities Explorer"

The process of innovation follows non-linear patterns across the domains of science, technology, and the economy. Novel bibliometric mapping techniques can be used to investigate and represent distinctive, but complementary perspectives on the innovation process (e.g., "demand" and "supply") as well as the interactions among these perspectives. The perspectives can be represented as "continents" of data related to varying extents over time. For example, the different branches of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) in the Medline database provide sources of such perspectives (e.g., "Diseases" versus "Drugs and Chemicals"). The multiple-perspective approach enables us to reconstruct facets of the dynamics of innovation, in terms of selection mechanisms shaping localizable trajectories and/or resulting in more globalized regimes. By expanding the data with patents and scholarly publications, we demonstrate the use of this multi-perspective approach in the case of RNA Interference (RNAi). The possibility to develop an "Innovation Opportunities Explorer" is specified.

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arXiv2013

Interactive Overlays of Journals and the Measurement of Interdisciplinarity on the basis of Aggregated Journal-Journal Citations

Using "Analyze Results" at the Web of Science, one can directly generate overlays onto global journal maps of science. The maps are based on the 10,000+ journals contained in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) of the Science and Social Science Citation Indices (2011). The disciplinary diversity of the retrieval is measured in terms of Rao-Stirling's "quadratic entropy." Since this indicator of interdisciplinarity is normalized between zero and one, the interdisciplinarity can be compared among document sets and across years, cited or citing. The colors used for the overlays are based on Blondel et al.'s (2008) community-finding algorithms operating on the relations journals included in JCRs. The results can be exported from VOSViewer with different options such as proportional labels, heat maps, or cluster density maps. The maps can also be web-started and/or animated (e.g., using PowerPoint). The "citing" dimension of the aggregated journal-journal citation matrix was found to provide a more comprehensive description than the matrix based on the cited archive. The relations between local and global maps and their different functions in studying the sciences in terms of journal litteratures are further discussed: local and global maps are based on different assumptions and can be expected to serve different purposes for the explanation.

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arXiv2013

International collaboration clusters in Africa

Recent discussion about the increase in international research collaboration suggests a comprehensive global network centred around a group of core countries and driven by generic socio-economic factors where the global system influences all national and institutional outcomes. In counterpoint, we demonstrate that the collaboration pattern for countries in Africa is far from universal. Instead, it exhibits layers of internal clusters and external links that are explained not by monotypic global influences but by regional geography and, perhaps even more strongly, by history, culture and language. Analysis of these bottom-up, subjective, human factors is required in order to provide the fuller explanation useful for policy and management purposes.

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arXiv2013

Field-normalized Impact Factors: A Comparison of Rescaling versus Fractionally Counted IFs

Two methods for comparing impact factors and citation rates across fields of science are tested against each other using citations to the 3,705 journals in the Science Citation Index 2010 (CD-Rom version of SCI) and the 13 field categories used for the Science and Engineering Indicators of the US National Science Board. We compare (i) normalization by counting citations in proportion to the length of the reference list (1/N of references) with (ii) rescaling by dividing citation scores by the arithmetic mean of the citation rate of the cluster. Rescaling is analytical and therefore independent of the quality of the attribution to the sets, whereas fractional counting provides an empirical strategy for normalization among sets (by evaluating the between-group variance). By the fairness test of Radicchi & Castellano (2012a), rescaling outperforms fractional counting of citations for reasons that we consider.

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