123 research outputs found
Betweenness Centrality as a Driver of Preferential Attachment in the Evolution of Research Collaboration Networks
We analyze whether preferential attachment in scientific coauthorship
networks is different for authors with different forms of centrality. Using a
complete database for the scientific specialty of research about "steel
structures," we show that betweenness centrality of an existing node is a
significantly better predictor of preferential attachment by new entrants than
degree or closeness centrality. During the growth of a network, preferential
attachment shifts from (local) degree centrality to betweenness centrality as a
global measure. An interpretation is that supervisors of PhD projects and
postdocs broker between new entrants and the already existing network, and thus
become focal to preferential attachment. Because of this mediation, scholarly
networks can be expected to develop differently from networks which are
predicated on preferential attachment to nodes with high degree centrality.Comment: Journal of Informetrics (in press
The Complex Network of Evolutionary Computation Authors: an Initial Study
EC paper authors form a complex network of co-authorship which is, by itself,
a example of an evolving system with its own rules, concept of fitness, and
patterns of attachment. In this paper we explore the network of authors of
evolutionary computation papers found in a major bibliographic database. We
examine its macroscopic properties, and compare it with other co-authorship
networks; the EC co-authorship network yields results in the same ballpark as
other networks, but exhibits some distinctive patterns in terms of internal
cohesion. We also try to find some hints on what makes an author a sociometric
star. Finally, the role of proceeding editorship as the origin of long-range
links in the co-authorship network is studied as well.Comment: Sociometric study of the Evolutionary Computation community.
Submitted to Evolutionary Computation lette
Mapping the Evolution of "Clusters": A Meta-analysis
This paper presents a meta-analysis of the âcluster literatureâ contained in scientific journals from 1969 to 2007. Thanks to an original database we study the evolution of a stream of literature which focuses on a research object which is both a theoretical puzzle and an empirical widespread evidence. We identify different growth stages, from take-off to development and maturity. We test the existence of a life-cycle within the authorships and we discover the existence of a substitutability relation between different collaborative behaviours. We study the relationships between a âspatialâ and an âindustrialâ approach within the textual corpus of cluster literature and we show the existence of a âpredatoryâ interaction. We detect the relevance of clustering behaviours in the location of authors working on clusters and in measuring the influence of geographical distance in co-authorship. We measure the extent of a convergence process of the vocabulary of scientists working on clusters.Cluster, Life-Cycle, Cluster Literature, Textual Analysis, Agglomeration, Co-Authorship
A New Approach to Analyzing Patterns of Collaboration in Co-authorship Networks - Mesoscopic Analysis and Interpretation
This paper focuses on methods to study patterns of collaboration in
co-authorship networks at the mesoscopic level. We combine qualitative methods
(participant interviews) with quantitative methods (network analysis) and
demonstrate the application and value of our approach in a case study comparing
three research fields in chemistry. A mesoscopic level of analysis means that
in addition to the basic analytic unit of the individual researcher as node in
a co-author network, we base our analysis on the observed modular structure of
co-author networks. We interpret the clustering of authors into groups as
bibliometric footprints of the basic collective units of knowledge production
in a research specialty. We find two types of coauthor-linking patterns between
author clusters that we interpret as representing two different forms of
cooperative behavior, transfer-type connections due to career migrations or
one-off services rendered, and stronger, dedicated inter-group collaboration.
Hence the generic coauthor network of a research specialty can be understood as
the overlay of two distinct types of cooperative networks between groups of
authors publishing in a research specialty. We show how our analytic approach
exposes field specific differences in the social organization of research.Comment: An earlier version of the paper was presented at ISSI 2009, 14-17
July, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Revised version accepted on 2 April 2010 for
publication in Scientometrics. Removed part on node-role connectivity profile
analysis after finding error in calculation and deciding to postpone
analysis
Modes of Collaboration in Modern Science - Beyond Power Laws and Preferential Attachment
The goal of the study is to determine the underlying processes leading to the
observed collaborator distribution in modern scientific fields, with special
attention to non-power law behavior. Nanoscience is used as a case study of a
modern interdisciplinary field, and its coauthorship network for 2000-04 period
is constructed from NanoBank database. We find three collaboration modes that
correspond to three distinct ranges in the distribution of collaborators: (1)
for authors with fewer than 20 collaborators (the majority) preferential
attachment does not hold and they form a log-normal "hook" instead of a power
law, (2) authors with more than 20 collaborators benefit from preferential
attachment and form a power law tail, and (3) authors with between 250 and 800
collaborators are more frequent than expected because of the hyperauthorship
practices in certain subfields.Comment: Accepted for publication in JASIS
Social Networks of Researchers in Business To Business Marketing: A Case Study of the IMP Group 1984-1999
Science is a social process that functions through social networks of researchers that form invisible colleges. Analysis of these social networks provides a means for examining the structure of relations among researchers. The Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) group, "an informal international group of scholars concerned with developing concepts and knowledge in the field of business-to-business marketing and purchasing," is used as a case study of a network of researchers because it has been responsible for considerable research over the last decades in the area of business-to-business marketing, yet its structure remains hidden because of its informal network characteristics. The results of a social network analysis of the IMP group is described based on the pattern of co-authorship at annual IMP conferences. The results reveal a power law distribution of paper co-authorship and a small world network that conforms to the results of studies of other types of social networks. A core network of 57 researchers is identified and its network properties are described, including how it has evolved over time. The study provides the basis for further studies of the social networks of marketing and business researchers.informal networks, business-to-business marketing
Theoretical studies of the historical development of the accounting discipline: a review and evidence
Many existing studies of the development of accounting thought have either been atheoretical or have adopted Kuhn's model of scientific growth. The limitations of this 35-year-old model are discussed. Four different general neo-Kuhnian models of scholarly knowledge development are reviewed and compared with reference to an analytical matrix. The models are found to be mutually consistent, with each focusing on a different aspect of development. A composite model is proposed. Based on a hand-crafted database, author co-citation analysis is used to map empirically the entire literature structure of the accounting discipline during two consecutive time periods, 1972â81 and 1982â90. The changing structure of the accounting literature is interpreted using the proposed composite model of scholarly knowledge development
Mapping recent information behavior research: an analysis of co-authorship and cocitation networks
There has been an increase in research published on information behavior in recent years, and this has been accompanied by an increase in its diversity and interaction with other fields, particularly information retrieval (HR). The aims of this study are to determine which researchers have contributed to producing the current body of knowledge on this subject, and to describe its intellectual basis. A bibliometric and network analysis was applied to authorship and co-authorship as well as citation and co-citation. According to these analyses, there is a small number of authors who can be considered to be the most productive and who publish regularly, and a large number of transient ones. Other findings reveal a marked predominance of theoretical works, some examples of qualitative methodology that originate in other areas of social science, and a high incidence of research focused on the user interaction with information retrieval systems and the information behavior of doctors
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