Who are we talking about? Identifying scientific populations online

In this paper, we begin to address the question of which scientists are online. Prior studies have shown that Web users are only a segmented reflection of the actual off-line population, and thus when studying online behaviors we need to be explicit about the representativeness of the sample under study to accurately relate trends to populations. When studying social phenomena on the Web, the identification of individuals is essential to be able to generalize about specific segments of a population off-line. Specifically, we present a method for assessing the online activity of a known set of actors. The method is tailored to the domain of science. We apply the method to a population of Dutch computer scientists and their coauthors. The results when combined with metadata of the set provide insights into the representativeness of the sample of interest. The study results show that scientists of above-average tenure and performance are overrepresented online, suggesting that when studying online behaviors of scientists we are commenting specifically on the behaviors of above-average-performing scientists. Given this finding, metrics of Web behaviors of science may provide a key tool for measuring knowledge production and innovation at a faster rate than traditional delayed bibliometric studies

Distant and close reading in literature: a case of networks in Periodical Studies

The question of how to read, and specifically the opposed approaches of distant and close reading has long been contentious in the humanities and specifically in the field of literary studies. In practice, computational tools are increasingly implemented by scholars, resulting in a constantly evolving debate around the reading of research objects. This article approaches the contemporary climate through the lens of network studies, focusing on various ways networks are being used and can be used in humanities research: modelling information as relational, visualizing networks, and implementing quantitative network analysis. We argue that in practice, distant and close reading necessarily coexist and are methodological approaches that answer different yet complementary research questions. This is explained through three types of applications of network studies which focus on periodicals: close reading and network visualisations, close reading and network visualisations and analysis, and the computational generation of networks from databases for exploring relational phenomena with network analysis. We assert that there is a need for greater awareness and transparency about the role different approaches play in present-day research. Instead of pitting these two approaches against one another, we urge researchers to consider the mutual benefits of reading practices in order to facilitate a conversation on the value and role of different technologies and ways of reading in the humanities

Ideas with impact : how connectivity shapes diffusion

Despite a growing body of research on idea diffusion, there is a lack of knowledge on why some ideas successfully diffuse and stand out from the crowd while others do not surface or remain unnoticed. We address this question by looking into the characteristics of an idea, specifically its connectivity in a content network. In a content network, ideas connect to other ideas through their content the words that the ideas have in common. We hypothesize that a high connectivity of an idea in a content network is beneficial for idea diffusion because this idea will more likely be conceived as novel yet at the same time also as more useful because it appears as more familiar to the audience. Moreover, we posit that a high social connectivity of the team working on the idea further enhances the effect of high content connectivity on idea diffusion. Our study focuses on academic conference publications and the co-authorship data of a community of computer science researchers from 2006 to 2012. We find confirmation for our hypotheses and discuss the implications of these findings