Bibliometric Approximation of a Scientific Specialty by Combining Key Sources, Title Words, Authors and References

摘要

Bibliometric methods for the analysis of highly specialized subjects areincreasingly investigated and debated. Information and assessments well-focusedat the specialty level can help make important decisions in research andinnovation policy. This paper presents a novel method to approximate thespecialty to which a given publication record belongs. The method partiallycombines sets of key values for four publication data fields: source, title,authors and references. The approach is founded in concepts defining researchdisciplines and scholarly communication, and in empirically observedregularities in publication data. The resulting specialty approximationconsists of publications associated to the investigated publication record viakey values for at least three of the four data fields. This paper describes themethod and illustrates it with an application to publication records ofindividual scientists. The illustration also successfully tests the focus ofthe specialty approximation in terms of its ability to connect and helpidentify peers. Potential tracks for further investigation include analysesinvolving other kinds of specialized publication records, studies for a broaderrange of specialties, and exploration of the potential for diverse applicationsin research and research policy context.