scientometrics

Scientometrics is the quantitative study of science, technology, and innovation. It analyzes how scientific knowledge is produced, disseminated, and used, and aims to map the structure and dynamics of scientific activity.

Data come from bibliographic databases such as Web of Science, Scopus, Dimensions, and arXiv, plus open data and preprint servers. Researchers integrate citation records, authorship, journal metadata, and topic information to study patterns over time. Methods include bibliometrics, citation analysis, co-authorship and co-citation networks, bibliographic coupling, and text mining or topic modeling.

Indicators include citation counts, the h-index, g-index, i10-index, and field-normalized measures; journal metrics are common but debated. Network analysis yields measures of centrality and community structure, while altmetrics track attention beyond citations. Results are often presented with visualizations and dashboards.

Applications include research evaluation, science policy, mapping of fields, tracking collaboration, and monitoring research trends or funding. The field also informs debates about open science and reproducibility.

Challenges include uneven coverage across disciplines, language biases, data quality, author name disambiguation, and metric gaming. The field promotes responsible metrics, as reflected in the Leiden Manifesto and the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment.

History: Scientometrics traces to Derek J. de Solla Price and to Eugene Garfield’s work on citation indexing, with subsequent advances from network science expanding analytic tools.