Unit 6 Bibliometrics Scientometrics and Informetrics Dr Gururaj

Unit 6: Bibliometrics, Scientometrics and Informetrics Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali Assistant Professor Department of Library and Information Science Karnatak University, Dharwad – 580 003 E-mail: gururaj_hadagali@yahoo. co. in Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 1

Bibliometrics � The word “Bibliometrics” has two roots: ‘biblio’ and ‘metric. � The term ‘biblio’ is derived from the combination of Latin and Greek word ‘biblion’ equivalent to Bylos, meaning book, paper which in turn was derived from the word Bylos, a city of Phenonicia, a noted city for export trade in paper. � The word ‘metrics’, on the other hand, indicates the science of meter, i. e. , measurement and is derived either from Latin or Greek word ‘metricus’ or ‘metricos’ respectively, each managing measurement. Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 2

� This term was coined for the first time by British Scientist Alan Pritchard (1969). � Bibliometric studies include � studies of the growth of the literature in some subject, � how much literature is contributed by various individuals, groups, or organisations or countries; � how much exists in various languages; � how the literature on some subject is scattered (e. g. , over documentary types, language journals); and Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 3

� how quickly the literature on some subject becomes out-of-date (Studies of obsolescence). � Another important group of bibliometric studies relates to what sources author cite. � Day-by-day this study is attaining sophistication and complexity, having national, international and inter disciplinary character. Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 4

� Applications � Medium of communication (that is articles, books, etc. ) (form wise), � Nature of information conveyed, that is, how much literature exists on various languages and subjects, � Amount of information conveyed by various individuals, group, organisations, countries, � Geographical distribution of documents, Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 5

Bibliometric Laws � The following are three empirical bibliometric laws that provided tremendous boost in the research activities of bibliometrics. These three laws are: � Lotka’s Law: Productivity of authors in terms of scientific papers (1926), � Bradford’s Law: Scattering of articles over different journals (1934), � Zipf’s Law: Frequency of occurrence of words in a text (1949). Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 6

Lotka’s Inverse Square Law � In 1926, Alfred J. Lotka proposed his inverse square law correlating contributors of scientific papers to their number of contributions. � His law provided fundamental theoretical base for bibliometric studies involving authorships. � Example of documents count considering all authors in a determine field Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 7

Number of works Number of authors 1 1, 005 2 130 3 32 4 15 5 7 6 6 7 4 8 3 9 1 10 2 Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 8

Bradford’s Law � Samuel C. Bradford first formulated his law in 1934, but it did not receive wide attention until the publication of his book ‘Documentation’ in 1948. � He described it as… “If a large collection of scientific journals are arranged in order of decreasing productivity of papers relevant to a given subject, then they may be divided into three zones so that each zone produces 1/3 of the total relevant papers. Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 9

� The first, the nucleus zone, contains a small number of highly productive journals, say n 1 ; the three zones contain a larger number of moderately productive journal, say n 2; and the outer zone contains a still larger number of journals of low productivity say n 3. He enunciated his law of scatter as: n 1 : n 2 : n 3 = 1 : : 2 where is constant. Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 10

� Bradford also plotted graphs of the cumulative number of sources by plotting cumulative total of relevant papers R (n) on a linear scale along the y-axis and the number of journals (n) on a long scale. Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 11

Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 12

Zipf’s Law of Word Occurrence � Zipf developed and extended an empirical law of least effort. � He said that there is a relationship between the rank of a word and its frequency of occurrence in a lengthy text. � In a long textual matter if the words are arranged in their decreasing order of frequency, then the rank of any given word of the text will be inversely proportional to the frequency of occurrence of the word, i. e. , if ‘r’ is the rank of a word and ‘f’ is its frequency, Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 13

� then mathematically zipf’s law can be stated as follows: rank (r) 1 / frequency (f) or rf = C, where ‘c’ is a constant. � Thus, these three laws are respectively useful in: � Number of authors contributing in a discipline or other field; � Distribution of articles in a set of journals; and � Ranking of word frequency in a set of documents. Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 14

Bibliographic Coupling � It is a technique for identifying themes of a document from its citations or references. � It is the number of common references cited in two documents that indicate the degree of similarity of contents of the citing papers. Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 15

� The source documents containing a large number of common references are said to have a high coupling strength and are likely to be on the same topic of the field change. � Through the study of changing structures, co -citation can be used as a tool for monitoring the development of scientific fields. Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 16

Obsolescence Studies � Obsolescence concept is of obvious interest to information theoreticians who concern themselves with the development career and eventual death or incorporation of particular kinds of information. � It is also of interest to practical librarians who administer growing collection in finite spaces. � Such librarians look to research on obsolescence to help them to decide which items to keep, which items to store or to discard which in order to make room for new acquisitions. Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 17

� The obsolescence frequently occurs in the literature of bibliometrics and citation analysis studies. � Analysis of citations by age of the cited documents indicates the useful life of documents. � This period of citation of the journal articles is referred to as ‘Half-Life period of periodicals’ or often quoted as ‘Obsolescence of the Literature. ’ Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 18

Figure - 1 : Half life period of journals citations 12000 11042 11000 Cumulative Citations 10000 10195 9000 11549 11509 11363 11539 11564 11603 11599 11592 11598 11601 8691 8000 7074 7000 6000 5000 4681 4000 3000 2000 1610 1000 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 Period in Years Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 19

Citation Analysis � Citation analysis is a tool to identify relationships between authors or journals, as in the previous analysis of research networks. � When an author publishes a study, this will include references to previous studies by other authors which are related to it. � These citations reveal a connection between authors, groups of researchers, topics of study or countries. Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 20

� Furthermore, the impact and relevance that authors, studies or journals have on a scientific community can be measured by means of citation analysis. � However, it is not advisable to use it as a single and absolute criterion for judging the importance of a publication. � It is necessary to distinguish between a citation and a reference. � Although the two terms are used interchangeably, they each represent a different view in the citing or cited perspective. Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 21

�A reference is made within a citing document and represents an acknowledgement of another study. � A citation represents the acknowledgement received by the cited document. � Cited documents are generally older than the citing document, although in some cases references may be made to documents that are being published concurrently or that have yet to be publishes. � Thus the fact of citing or being cited implies a relationship between two studies. Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 22

� However, this relationship also involves the other references given in the cited document, as these references will represent the basis of the study on which a third publication is based. � Consequently, a citation analysis implies studying these complex relationships between publications which are linked by a reference or a citation. Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 23

� The “citation studies” relates to: � Which authors are most cited? � Which journals are most cited? � What linkages exist between the citing and cited works (that is self-citation) � Language of documents selected for use as citation, � Type of documents used for citation, � Subject distributions and has quickly the literature on some subjects become out-ofdate that is obsolescence study, Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 24

Example: Citation Analysis of Ph. D. Theses in Chemistry submitted to Karnatak University, Dharwad during 20022006: A Study Table - 1: Preference of Channels of Communication by the Chemists Channels of Sl. No Communication 1 Journal 2 Books Number of Citations 11611 1591 Cumulative Citations Percentage 11611 82. 71 13202 11. 33 Cumulative Percentage 82. 71 94. 04 3 4 5 6 Conference Proceedings Reports Theses Standards 37 07 88 02 13239 13246 13332 13334 0. 26 0. 049 0. 62 0. 01 94. 30 94. 34 94. 96 94. 97 7 8 Technical Publication Patents 11 250 13347 13597 0. 07 1. 78 95. 04 96. 82 9 10 Advances /Reviews Unidentified Total 02 439 14, 038 13599 14038 14, 038 0. 01 3. 13 100. 00 96. 83 100. 00 Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 25

Table - 2: Authorship Pattern of Literature Cited Sl. No. Authorship Total No. of Cumulative Percentage DC pattern Citations 1 Single 2765 19. 70 2 Two 4503 7268 32. 08 3 Three 3606 10874 25. 69 4 Four 1787 12661 12. 73 5 Five 645 13306 4. 59 6 Six 229 13535 1. 63 7 Seven 125 13660 0. 89 8 Eight 60 13720 0. 43 9 Nine 29 13749 0. 20 10 Ten 18 13767 0. 13 11 Eleven 10 13777 0. 07 12 Twelve 3 13780 0. 02 13 Unidentified 258 14308 1. 84 Total 14, 038 14, 308 100 0. 799 Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 CC 0. 51 26

Table - 3: Chronological Distribution of Book Citations Sl. No. 1 2 3 4 6 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Period of Citations 1880 -1889 1890 -1899 1900 -1909 1910 -1919 1920 -1929 1930 -1939 1940 -1949 1950 -1959 1960 -1969 1970 -1979 1980 -1989 1990 -1999 2000 -2006 Not known Total No. of Citations 1 2 3 5 14 155 414 394 265 244 64 30 1591 Cumulative Percentage Cumulative Citations Percentage 1 0. 06 3 0. 12 0. 18 6 0. 19 0. 37 11 0. 31 0. 68 25 0. 88 1. 56 180 9. 74 11. 30 594 26. 02 37. 32 988 24. 76 62. 08 1253 16. 66 78. 74 1497 15. 34 94. 08 1561 4. 03 98. 11 1591 1. 89 100 Dr. Gururaj 100 S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 27

Table - 4: Chronological Distribution of Journal Citations Sl. No. Period of Citations No. of Citations Cumulative Citations Percentage Cumulative Percentage 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1850 -1859 1860 -1869 1870 -1879 1880 -1889 1890 -1899 1900 -1909 1910 -1919 1920 -1929 1930 -1939 1940 -1949 1950 -1959 1960 -1969 1970 -1979 1980 -1989 1990 -1999 2000 -2006 Not Mentioned 2 2 1 6 28 15 10 30 146 321 847 1504 1617 2393 3071 1610 8 2 4 5 11 39 54 64 94 240 561 1408 2912 4529 6922 9993 11603 11611 0. 01 0. 00 0. 05 0. 24 0. 12 0. 08 0. 25 1. 25 2. 76 7. 25 12. 95 13. 92 20. 6 26. 6 13. 8 0. 06 0. 01 0. 03 0. 04 0. 09 0. 33 0. 46 0. 54 0. 80 2. 05 4. 81 12. 06 25. 01 38. 93 59. 53 86. 13 99. 93 100 11, 611 Total 100. 00 Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 100. 00 3/7/2021 28

Webometrics � The science of webometrics (also cybermetrics) tries to measure the World Wide Web to get knowledge about the number and types of hyperlinks, structure of the World Wide Web and usage patterns. � According to Björneborn and Ingwersen (2004), the definition of webometrics is "the study of the quantitative aspects of the construction and use of information resources, structures and technologies on the Web drawing on Bibliometrics and informetric approaches. " Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 29

term webometrics was first coined by Almind and Ingwersen (1997). � A second definition of webometrics has also been introduced, "the study of web-based content with primarily quantitative methods for social science research goals using techniques that are not specific to one field of study" which emphasizes the development of applied methods for use in the wider social sciences. � The Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 30

� The purpose of this alternative definition was to help publicise appropriate methods outside of the information science discipline rather than to replace the original definition within information science. � One relatively straightforward measure is the "Web Impact Factor" (WIF) introduced by Ingwersen (1998). � The WIF may be defined as the number of web pages in a web site receiving links from other web sites, divided by the number of web pages published in the site that are accessible to the crawler. Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 31

Scientometrics � The terms namely Librametrics, Bibliometrics, Informetrics and Scientometrics are used almost synonymously. � These are systematically applied to study and to solve the problems in the field of Library and Information Science. � The term ‘Scientometrics’ is often used with the same as that of Bibliometrics. Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 32

� The term Scientometrics is traced to Russian to mean ‘the application of quantitative methods to the history of science. � It is now generally used as a generic term for a variety of researcher approaches within the study of science. � This term came into prominence with the founding of the journal named ‘Scientometrics’ by T. Braunin 1977, originally published in Hungary and currently from Amsterdam. Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 33

� It is also used as a generic term for a system of knowledge, which endeavours to study the scientific (and technological) system by using a variety of approaches within the area of science and technology studies. � Thus Scientometrics is a part of the sociology of science and is applied to science policy making. Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 34

� The principal aim of Scientometrics is to determine the state and prospects of a subject and its further development. � Several Scientometrics indicators have been used for this purpose and one of the most significant indicators is the number of publications, its changes over time is usually considered as a measure of research topicality in a given field. Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 35

� These indicators are on the way to become a standard tool of evaluation and analysis in research management of science policy making. � Considerable attention has been paid in recent years to measure scientific information, which may be used for the monitoring of science development in two ways practical and strategic. Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 36

� As far as the strategic use of information is concerned, it implies the monitoring of science development and the analysis of changing structure of science. The following are some of the science indicators; � Number of papers published by an individual and / or by an institution. � Number of papers published by an author / or by an organization. Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 37

� Growth and obsolescence rates. � Impact Factor (IF), Activity Index (AI), Immediacy Index (II), Collaboration Index (CI) and others. Data Sources for Scientometrics study � The most common sources of data include Science Citation Index (SCI), the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) and Humanities Index which are the products of Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) and other databases also serve the data source for the study. Dr. Gururaj S. Hadagali 3/7/2021 38