A Review of Theory and Practice in Scientometrics

Scientometrics is the study of the quantitative aspects of the process of science as a communication system. It is centrally, but not only, concerned with the analysis of citations in the academic literature. In recent years it has come to play a major role in the measurement and evaluation of research performance. In this review we consider: the historical development of scientometrics, sources of citation data, citation metrics and the “laws" of scientometrics, normalisation, journal impact factors and other journal metrics, visualising and mapping science, evaluation and policy, and future developments

Usage Bibliometrics

Scholarly usage data provides unique opportunities to address the known shortcomings of citation analysis. However, the collection, processing and analysis of usage data remains an area of active research. This article provides a review of the state-of-the-art in usage-based informetric, i.e. the use of usage data to study the scholarly process.Comment: Publisher's PDF (by permission). Publisher web site: books.infotoday.com/asist/arist44.shtm

Mapping and Global Research Trends in Sharia Insurance (Takaful) Using the Scopus Database (An Analysis of Bibliometrics)

The research objectives are: 1) to analyze the pattern of temporal distribution of journal articles about sharia insurance; 2) to show the contributions of authors, leading countries and the most productive academic institutions; 3) to map research topics; 4) to map state domination based on its application, and 5) to provide insight into the potential for collaboration and future directions. Data were analyzed using content analysis techniques based on maps produced by the CiteSpace V. application. Content analysis is a systematic test that can be replicated from communication symbols, where these symbols are given numerical values based on valid measurements, and analysis uses statistical methods

Which cities produce excellent papers worldwide more than can be expected? A new mapping approach--using Google Maps--based on statistical significance testing

The methods presented in this paper allow for a statistical analysis revealing centers of excellence around the world using programs that are freely available. Based on Web of Science data, field-specific excellence can be identified in cities where highly-cited papers were published significantly. Compared to the mapping approaches published hitherto, our approach is more analytically oriented by allowing the assessment of an observed number of excellent papers for a city (in the sample) against the expected number. Using this test, the approach cannot only identify the top performers in output but the "true jewels." These are cities locating authors who publish significantly more top cited papers than can be expected. As the examples in this paper show for physics, chemistry, and psychology, these cities do not necessarily have a high output of excellent papers