Bibliometric studies outside the information science and library science field: uncontainable or uncontrollable?

Milojević S.

Nature, Science, and PNAS are the three most prestigious general-science journals, and Nature and Science are among the most influential journals overall, based on the journal Impact Factor (IF). In this paper we perform automatic classification of ~ 50,000 articles in these journals (published in the period 2005–2015) into 14 broad areas, to explore disciplinary profiles of these journals and to determine their field-specific IFs. We find that in all three journals the articles from Bioscience, Astronomy, and Geosciences are over-represented, with other areas being under-represented, some of them severely. Discipline-specific IFs in these journals vary greatly, for example, between 18 and 46 for Nature. We find that the areas that have the highest disciplinary IFs are not the ones that contribute the most articles. We also find that publishing articles in these three journals brings the prestige for articles in all areas, but at different levels, the least being for Astronomy. Comparing field-specific IFs of Nature, Science and PNAS to other top journals in six largest areas (Bioscience, Medicine, Geosciences, Physics, Astronomy, and Chemistry) these three journals are always among the top seven journals, with Nature being at the very top for all fields except in Medicine.

Yu M., Krehbiel M., Thompson S., Miljkovic T.

This paper explores the role of gender gap in the actuarial research community with advanced data science tools. The web scraping tools were employed to create a database of publications that encompasses six major actuarial journals. This database includes the article names, authors’ names, publication year, volume, and the number of citations for the time period 2005–2018. The advanced tools built as part of the R software were used to perform gender classification based on the author’s name. Further, we developed a social network analysis by gender in order to analyze the collaborative structure and other forms of interaction within the actuarial research community. A Poisson mixture model was used to identify major clusters with respect to the frequency of citations by gender across the six journals. The analysis showed that women’s publishing and citation networks are more isolated and have fewer ties than male networks. The paper contributes to the broader literature on the “Matthew effect” in academia. We hope that our study will improve understanding of the gender gap within the actuarial research community and initiate a discussion that will lead to developing strategies for a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable community.

González-Alcaide G., Pinargote H., Ramos J.M.

In co-authorship networks, some nodes play the key role of cut-point, facilitating the integration of other authors and favoring connectivity among different research communities. The present study uses bibliometric and network embeddedness indicators to analyze the scientific activity on ventilator-associated pneumonia and the roles of 17 research communities and 30 cut-points therein. In addition to fostering network connectivity and cohesion, cut-points are characterized by other differential features compared to other authors, including a much higher level of productivity and greater participation in leadership positions, higher betweenness values, lower clustering coefficients and higher levels of constraint. The cut-points identified have different characteristics in terms of the connectivity they facilitate between research communities: some cut-points have established weak intercommunity ties in the form of bridges with a single author from a different community; in other cases, they serve as gatekeepers due to their connection with different authors of a community that they link with their own; cut-points may also act as structural folds, that is, actors with an overlapping role between two cohesive communities. The cut-points present very diverse connectivity degrees, with some cut-points whose elimination would provoke severe network fragmentation and others who are responsible for linking far fewer external authors to their network. The cut-points that present both the main mechanisms for obtaining social capital—that is, filling structural holes and participating in cohesive network structures—can be considered key actors/players because their participation is crucial for ensuring both integration into the main research focus of some communities with high research performance and the overall cohesion of a co-authorship network.

Abramo G., D’Angelo C.A., Di Costa F.

This study inserts in the stream of research on the perverse effects that PBRF systems can induce in the subjects evaluated. The authors’ opinion is that more often than not, it is the doubtful scientific basis of the evaluation criteria that leave room for opportunistic behaviors. The work examines the 2004–2010 Italian national research assessment (VQR) to test the lack of possible opportunistic behavior by universities in order to limit the penalization of their performance (and funding) due to the presence of scientifically unproductive professors in faculty. In particular, institutions may have favored “gift authorship” practices. The analysis thus focuses on the output of professors who were unproductive in the VQR publication window, but became productive (“new productives”) in the following five years. A number of universities show a higher than average share of publications by new productives that are in co-authorship exclusively with colleagues from the same university. Although this might be thought to reflect opportunistic behavior by universities, the empirical evidence does not support this assumption.

Zagonari F.

In this study, I developed operational versions of Gini’s and Hirsch’s indexes that can be applied to characterize each researcher’s publication history (PH) as heterodox, orthodox, and interdisciplinary. In addition, the new indicators warn against anomalies that potentially arise from tactical or opportunistic citation and publication behaviors by authors and editors, and can be calculated from readily available information. I split the original Hirsch index into nested indexes to isolate networking activity, as well as to distinguish scientific production (number of articles) from scientific productivity (rate of production), and used nested Gini indexes to identify intentional and successful intertopical and interdisciplinary research. I applied the most popular standardizations (i.e., per author and per year), and used simple methodologies (i.e., least-squares linear and cubic fitting, whole-career vs. subperiods, two-dimensional graphs). I provide three representative numerical examples based on an orthodox multidisciplinary PH, a heterodox PH from the social sciences, and an orthodox unidisciplinary PH from the physical sciences. Two additional numerical examples based on PHs from the life and health sciences show that the suggested PH characterization can be applied to different disciplines where different publication and citation practices prevail. Software is provided to help readers explore the use of these indicators.

Bornmann L., Marx W.

Bibliometrics plays an increasingly important role in research evaluation. However, no gold standard exists for a set of reliable and valid (field-normalized) impact indicators in research evaluation. This opinion paper recommends that bibliometricians develop and analyze these impact indicators against the backdrop of Popper’s critical rationalism. The studies critically investigating the indicators should publish the results in such a way that they can be included in meta-analyses. The results of meta-analyses give guidance on which indicators can then be part of a set of indicators used as standard in bibliometrics. The generation and continuous revision of the standard set could be handled by the International Society for Informetrics and Scientometrics (ISSI).

Ellegaard O.

Bibliometric analysis has been used increasingly as a tool within the scientific community. Interplay is vital between those involved in refining bibliometric methods and the recipients of this type of analysis. Production as well as citations patterns reflect working methodologies in different disciplines within the specialized Library and Information Science (LIS) field, as well as in the non-specialist (non-LIS) professional field. We extract the literature on bibliometric analyses from Web of Science in all fields of science and analyze clustering of co-occurring keywords at an aggregate level. It reveals areas of interconnected literature with different impact on the LIS and the non-LIS community.We classify and categorize bibliometric articles that obtain the most citations in accordance with a modified version of Derrick’s, Jonker’s and Lewison’s method (Derrick et al. in Proceedings, 17th international conference on science and technology indicators. STI, Montreal, 2012). The data demonstrates that cross-referencing between the LIS and the non-LIS field is modest in publications outside their main categories of interest, i.e. discussions of various bibliometric issues or strict analyses of various topics. We identify some fields as less well-covered bibliometrically.

Abramo G., D’Angelo C.A., Di Costa F.

This work verifies whether research diversification by a scientist is in some measure related to their collaboration with multidisciplinary teams. The analysis considers the publications achieved by 5300 Italian academics in the sciences over the period 2004–2008. The findings show that a scientist’s outputs resulting from research diversification are more often than not the result of collaborations with multidisciplinary teams. The effect becomes more pronounced with larger and particularly with more diversified teams. This phenomenon is observed both at the overall level and for the disciplinary macro-areas.

Chang Y.

This bibliometric analysis explores the interdisciplinary characteristics of library and information science (LIS) from the perspective of interdisciplinary LIS authors. Articles published in non-LIS journals by LIS authors between 2005 and 2014 and indexed by the Web of Science database formed the basis for analysis. The results showed that interdisciplinary LIS authors published articles in numerous disciplines; a largest number of articles were found in medical and music journals. Over half of the articles published by these authors were not LIS-related and were primarily singly-authored articles and articles coauthored by LIS and non-LIS authors. Most articles coauthored by only LIS authors involved LIS-related topics. Interdisciplinary LIS authors preferred to publish by themselves. The majority of interdisciplinary authors were academic librarians. Interdisciplinary LIS authors most frequently collaborated with other LIS authors, followed by authors from the field of medicine. Although interdisciplinary LIS authors are a minority, they are active in expanding the visibility of LIS.

Petersohn S., Heinze T.

In recent years, the use of quantitative metrics in research evaluation has grown considerably. This article recasts the emergence of evaluative bibliometrics as an academic research field and quantitative research assessment as a field of professional experts in the Netherlands by focusing on one expert organization that has shaped both: the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) at the University of Leiden. Based on Abbott’s theory of professions and drawing on a comprehensive data set, including both archival and interview data, we show that the new professional field has been fostered by political actors in the Dutch science policy arena and that expertise was predominantly institutionalized in CWTS as a leading research institute and a provider of bibliometric research assessment services. Since the 2010s, CWTS has been challenged by ready-made bibliometric solutions provided by large database providers and publishing houses that increasingly attract non-experts to perform bibliometric assessments.

Rousseau S., Rousseau R.

Leydesdorff L., Wouters P., Bornmann L.

Bibliometric indicators such as journal impact factors, h-indices, and total citation counts are algorithmic artifacts that can be used in research evaluation and management. These artifacts have no meaning by themselves, but receive their meaning from attributions in institutional practices. We distinguish four main stakeholders in these practices: (1) producers of bibliometric data and indicators; (2) bibliometricians who develop and test indicators; (3) research managers who apply the indicators; and (4) the scientists being evaluated with potentially competing career interests. These different positions may lead to different and sometimes conflicting perspectives on the meaning and value of the indicators. The indicators can thus be considered as boundary objects which are socially constructed in translations among these perspectives. This paper proposes an analytical clarification by listing an informed set of (sometimes unsolved) problems in bibliometrics which can also shed light on the tension between simple but invalid indicators that are widely used (e.g., the h-index) and more sophisticated indicators that are not used or cannot be used in evaluation practices because they are not transparent for users, cannot be calculated, or are difficult to interpret.

Hammarfelt B.

In this chapter, the possibility of using bibliometric measures for evaluating research in the humanities is pondered. A review of recent attempts to develop bibliometric methods for studying the humanities shows that organizational, epistemological differences as well as distinct research practices in research fields ought to be considered. The dependence on colleagues, interdisciplinarity and the ‘rural’ nature of research in many humanistic disciplines are identified as factors that influence the possibilities of applying bibliometric methods. A few particularly promising approaches are highlighted, and the possibility of developing a ‘bibliometrics for the humanities’ is examined. Finally, the intellectual characteristics of specific disciplines should be considered when quality indicators are constructed, and the importance of including scholars from the humanities in the process is stressed.

Kumar S., Markscheffel B.

Hantavirus, one of the deadliest viruses known to humans, hospitalizes tens of thousands of people each year in Asia, Europe and the Americas. Transmitted by infected rodents and their excreta, Hantavirus are identified as etiologic agents of two main types of diseases—Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, the latter having a fatality rate of above 40 %. Although considerable research for over two decades has been going on in this area, bibliometric studies to gauge the state of research of this field have been rare. An analysis of 2631 articles, extracted from WoS databases on Hantavirus between 1980 and 2014, indicated a progressive increase (R 2 = 0.93) in the number of papers over the years, with the majority of papers being published in the USA and Europe. About 95 % papers were co-authored and the most common arrangement was 4–6 authors per paper. Co-authorship has seen a steady increase (R 2 = 0.57) over the years. We apply research collaboration network analysis to investigate the best-connected authors in the field. The author-based networks have 49 components (connected clump of nodes) with 7373 vertices (authors) and 49,747 edges (co-author associations) between them. The giant component (the largest component) is healthy, occupying 84.19 % or 6208 vertices with 47,117 edges between them. By using edge-weight threshold, we drill down into the network to reveal bonded communities. We find three communities’ hotspots—one, led by researchers at University of Helsinki, Finland; a second, led by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, USA; and a third, led by Hokkaido University, Japan. Significant correlation was found between author’s structural position in the network and research performance, thus further supporting a well-studied phenomenon that centrality effects research productivity. However, it was the PageRank centrality that out-performed degree and betweenness centrality in its strength of correlation with research performance.

Zuccala A.

In the past few decades the core of bibliometrics has predominantly been ‘scientometric’ in nature, due to the first commercial citation index having been created for scientific journals and articles. The production of citation indexes for books implies that proper education related to their use is now becoming critical. A new breed of humanistic bibliometrician can emerge successfully if well-trained lecturers are prepared to provide students with a foundation in mathematical indicator construction and a stimulating environment dedicated to problem-oriented learning. We examine some of the key principles and practices associated with teaching bibliometrics to humanists, with the aim of encouraging students to reflect upon new indicators relevant to scholarly research outputs across the humanities. Emphasis is placed on the “biblio” in bibliometrics (i.e., books), digital record-keeping across the humanities, the work of humanists who have sought to explain the development of new knowledge through objective pattern-seeking, and the complementary value of alternative versus traditional indicators of scholarly research performance.

Grieser C.

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic led to a historically unprecedented effort to accelerate medical research on the novel coronavirus. At the same time, researchers have raised concerns that the attempts to expedite research had negative side effects, such as information overload or adverse impacts on research quality. This paper thus explores the question whether attempts to increase the pace of research do more harm than good and to what extent the acceleration of scientific knowledge production is even possible. To address these questions, this article proposes a multi-level perspective on research speed consisting of four interrelated dimensions: the speed of individual research activities, the number of concurrent research activities, the speed of knowledge circulation, and the usefulness of knowledge contributions for peers. A closer examination of medical research on COVID-19 reveals that attempts to accelerate research were inherently precarious: On the one hand, there are hard limits to the speed of research, while on the other, several measures intended to expedite research have side effects that can actually decelerate research. This ambiguous character of research acceleration creates difficult trade-offs that require careful consideration in science policy.

Wu B., Luo D., Wang X., Qiao C., Li R., Liu J.

BackgroundThe body of research on tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) is expanding rapidly; yet, a comprehensive analysis of related publications has been notably absent.ObjectiveThis study utilizes bibliometric methodologies to identify emerging research hotspots and to map the distribution of tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte research.MethodsLiterature from the Web of Science database was analyzed and visualized using VOSviewer, CiteSpace, Scimago Graphica, R-bibliometrix, and R packages.ResultsResearch on tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes began in 1975 and has experienced significant growth, particularly after 2015. Leading contributors include the United States, the National Cancer Institute, the journal Cancer Immunology Immunotherapy, and researcher Steven A. Rosenberg. Other prominent contributors include China, the National Institutes of Health, researcher Roberto Salgado, and the Journal of Immunology. Prominent institutions in the USA and Europe occupy central roles within collaborative networks. Financial support plays a pivotal role in driving research advancements. Keyword clustering analysis reveals four primary knowledge domains: adoptive cell therapy; the prognostic value of TILs; PD-1/PD-L1 and TILs; and prognostic studies of TILs across various cancers. Keyword and reference analyses further indicate that “adoptive cell therapy,” “the prognostic value of TILs,” and “immune checkpoint inhibitors and TILs” are central themes in current and future research. Combination therapies; tumor neoantigens; gene editing; dominant population selection of TILs therapy; TILs in Tumor microenvironment; emerging predictive biomarkers; TILs in predicting the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and immunotherapy; the relationship between TILs and PD-L1; TIL-based patient stratification; tertiary lymphoid structures; and TIL evaluation through digital pathology and artificial intelligence are identified as key areas of interest.ConclusionsThis analysis highlights the increasing academic focus on tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte research and identifies key recent themes in the field such as prognostic value of TILs, personalized treatments, and combination therapies.

Amiruddin M.Z., Samsudin A., Suhandi A., Coştu B., Prahani B.K.

Sánchez-Pérez M., Marín-Carrillo M.B., Segovia-López C., Terán-Yépez E.

Barroso T.L., Ferreira V.C., Castro L.E., da Rosa R.G., de Souza L.G., Goldbeck R., Forster‐Carneiro T.

AbstractThe potential of cashew apple bagasse in advancing a circular bioeconomy is being recognized increasingly. Traditionally viewed as a mere byproduct, this agroindustrial residue is acknowledged for its value in producing biofuels and bioproducts through innovative processes. This review highlights the growing research on cashew apple bagasse, emphasizing its nutritional potential and versatility as a biomass platform for generating products. Advances in pretreatment and fermentation strategies have enhanced bioprocess efficiency and aligned these processes with sustainability goals by utilizing residual materials and reducing environmental impacts. Cashew apple bagasse has also demonstrated considerable promise for enzymatic applications, including enzyme immobilization and biopolymer production, such as polylactic acid. These applications offer eco‐friendly alternatives to conventional petroleum‐based products. Emerging trends in bioenergy research underscore the importance of overcoming technical challenges related to biomass pretreatment, carbon capture, and sustainable production technologies. Innovations in digital financing, artificial intelligence, and hydrogen production are pivotal for the commercial viability of biorefineries. Overall, the promising findings from studies on cashew apple bagasse highlight its crucial role in renewable energy and bioproducts, reinforcing its potential to contribute significantly to a sustainable and circular economy.

Ramos A.A., Bertola L., Mata F.A., Miguel A.C., Oliveira Junior H.A., Ferri C.P.

Abstract Background Several studies have sought to investigate the trajectory of scholarly publications on dementia. Yet, there has been limited attention to contributions from Latin America. Objective To provide a comprehensive overview of the literature output on dementia in Brazil. Methods We conducted a Scopus-based literature search (2010–2021) for publications by authors affiliated with Brazil. Results Out of 5,534 reports, 2,528 met the inclusion criteria. The annual growth rate of publications on dementia (9.9%, SD = 15.5) closely paralleled that of general health-related literature (6.7%, SD = 4.9). Most publications were categorized into the areas of diagnosis (33.4%) and disease mechanisms, origins, and models (32.7%). Epidemiological studies (4%), clinical trials (1%), and economic analyses (0.3%) are scarce. Based on the first affiliation of Brazil-affiliated authors, 89.3% of dementia output stemmed from Southeast (68.4%) and South (20.9%) of Brazil. Nonetheless, the state of São Paulo alone accounted for 41.1%, contributing to 60.1% of the Southeast. First and second authorships were predominantly held by female researchers, whereas male researchers occupied most of the second-to-last and last authorships. Overall, 1,812 (71.7%) were published in 346 foreign journals and 716 (28.3%) in 43 Brazilian journals. Notably, nearly half of the reports published in Brazil are concentrated in two journals: Dementia e Neuropsychologia (31.4%) and Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria (15.2%). Conclusion There is a pressing need for more studies in dementia epidemiology and economic cost, in addition to more research across all Brazilian regions.

Huang Y., Xia J., Chen Y., Hong J.

Rural settlements serve as the fundamental spatial unit in rural geography research and play a significant role in regional system research on human‒land relations. With the accelerated advances in urbanization, industrialization, and agricultural modernization, the flow of urban and rural development factors has greatly changed the social and economic forms of rural areas, further seriously restricting the sustainable development of rural economies and societies. The spatial patterns of rural settlements serve as tangible reflections of rural living and the evolution of settlement structures, directly influencing the sustainable development of rural areas and the construction of rural human settlements. Despite the increasing number of relevant studies, a comprehensive review of the field’s dynamic evolution, research frontiers, and future development trajectories remains incomplete. On the basis of the Web of Science core database, this study used CiteSpace 6.2 R4 and VOS Viewer 1.6 software to perform a full systematic review of the literature on rural settlement spatial morphology from 2000 to 2024. The goal was to determine the current state of the research, where researchers are most active, and what major ideas and trends can be expected in the field of rural settlement spatial patterns. The results indicate that (1) the spatial patterns of rural settlements are a popular topic, integrating different disciplines and covering various themes, with close regional cooperation and a growing number of publications. At the national level, China, the United States, and France lead in research output and influence in this field. (2) The main research hotspots in the field include rural residential areas, spatial organization, land use, driving mechanisms, and regional systems, all of which are related to rural sustainable development. (3) Future research trends will likely focus on the response of rural settlement spatial patterns to new urbanization processes and social contexts. The findings provide a comprehensive overview of the evolution of research hotspots, aiding researchers in related fields in quickly grasping the research frontiers and summaries.

Liu W., Wang P., Wang H.

Similar to the Web of Science, Scopus is also a widely used abstract and citation database. Researchers typically employ the Year of Publication or Date of Publication field in Scopus to retrieve, filter and analyse indexed records. However, the inconsistent retrieval results obtained by these two fields in Scopus, which was occasionally observed in this study, may cause confusion among users. In this brief research article, we seek to elucidate this phenomenon by utilising indexed records in Scopus from the past 50 years. Empirical evidence indicates that inconsistent retrieval results retrieved by these two search fields are attributable to discrepancies in the publication year information provided in the Year of Publication and Date of Publication fields in Scopus. Specifically, missing year information in the Date of Publication field, incorrect year information in the Date of Publication field or in the Year of Publication field, and inconsistent use of different versions of publication dates in these two fields are four representative causes for the observed inconsistencies in retrieval results in Scopus. This article concludes by outlining the potential consequences of these issues and suggesting ways to effectively address them.

Fassin Y.

This paper explores the role of the leading universities in the genesis and the evolution of the academic field of bibliometrics. A recent bibliometric methodology is applied to publications in bibliometrics from the major universities of the Academic (Shanghai) Ranking of World Universities and Times Higher Education rankings. The results of this study challenge the traditional notion that prestigious universities are the main catalysts for innovation, emphasizing the substantial contributions made by second-tier and third-tier institutions schools. The study confirms the thesis of Fassin (2022) that—as for innovation in business—innovation in scientific knowledge does not necessarily originate from the top universities. It also corroborates the crucial role of the ‘idea champion’ or ‘concept advocates’. It are a few individuals who have started in different universities developing metrics and applying bibliometrics in their field, often solely and sometimes as a sideline to their major research areas. That makes the science of sciences a unique phenomenon in recent science.

Wu B., Liu Y., Zhang X., Luo D., Wang X., Qiao C., Liu J.

BackgroundThe emergence of nanotechnology has injected new vigor into vaccine research. Nanovaccine research has witnessed exponential growth in recent years; yet, a comprehensive analysis of related publications has been notably absent.ObjectiveThis study utilizes bibliometric methodologies to reveal the evolution of themes and the distribution of nanovaccine research.MethodsUsing tools such as VOSviewer, CiteSpace, Scimago Graphica, Pajek, R-bibliometrix, and R packages for the bibliometric analysis and visualization of literature retrieved from the Web of Science database.ResultsNanovaccine research commenced in 1981. The publication volume exponentially increased, notably in 2021. Leading contributors include the United States, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the “Vaccine”, and researcher Zhao Kai. Other significant contributors comprise China, the University of California, San Diego, Veronique Preat, the Journal of Controlled Release, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. The USA functions as a central hub for international cooperation. Financial support plays a pivotal role in driving research advancements. Key themes in highly cited articles include vaccine carrier design, cancer vaccines, nanomaterial properties, and COVID-19 vaccines. Among 7402 keywords, the principal nanocarriers include Chitosan, virus-like particles, gold nanoparticles, PLGA, and lipid nanoparticles. Nanovaccine is primarily intended to address diseases including SARS-CoV-2, cancer, influenza, and HIV. Clustering analysis of co-citation networks identifies 9 primary clusters, vividly illustrating the evolution of research themes over different periods. Co-citation bursts indicate that cancer vaccines, COVID-19 vaccines, and mRNA vaccines are pivotal areas of focus for current and future research in nanovaccines. “candidate vaccines,” “protein nanoparticle,” “cationic lipids,” “ionizable lipids,” “machine learning,” “long-term storage,” “personalized cancer vaccines,” “neoantigens,” “outer membrane vesicles,” “in situ nanovaccine,” and “biomimetic nanotechnologies” stand out as research interest.ConclusionsThis analysis emphasizes the increasing scholarly interest in nanovaccine research and highlights pivotal recent research themes such as cancer and COVID-19 vaccines, with lipid nanoparticle-mRNA vaccines leading novel research directions.

Nabavi M.

The primary objective of this investigation is to conduct a comprehensive assessment of research outputs in the field of clinical psychology using both bibliometric and altmetric approaches. A list of 179 clinical psychology journals was obtained from the Journal Citation Report (JCR) within the Web of Science (WoS). Altmetric indicators for each journal were then gathered from Altmetric.com, with data available for 162 out of the 179 journals. Simultaneously, a collection of highly cited documents published in WoS-indexed journals from 2018 to 2022 was compiled from Scopus. Altmetric data for these highly cited documents (n = 528) were retrieved from Altmetric.com. Additionally, a detailed analysis was conducted on the topics of highly cited documents, focusing on keywords present in their titles. The study revealed that higher impact journals generally exhibit superior altmetric performance, with Psychological Medicine journal displaying broader coverage across various social media platforms. Document-level analysis indicated that, while editorials and notes garner greater citation and Altmetric Attention Scores (AAS), the citation and AAS differences across article, and review document types were not statistically significant. Furthermore, the study identified a declining trend in AAS from 2018 to 2022. Notably, documents published in 2021 and 2019 had higher median news mentions and X mentions, respectively. In exploring the topics of highly cited documents in clinical psychology, the study found a decreasing coverage of prevalent mental disorders from 2018 to 2022. Specifically, documents related to anxiety disorders and eating disorders exhibited higher citation and altmetric attention, respectively.

Liao Z., Scaltritti M., Xu Z., Dinh T.N., Chen J., Ghaderi A.

Background: Eating disorders (EDs) present a growing concern due to their widespread occurrence and chronic course, the low access to evidence-based treatment, and the significant burden they place on the patients and society. This picture justifies intensive focus on the prevention of EDs. The current study provides the first bibliometric analysis of research on the prevention of EDs, focusing on trends and contributions, to prompt further prevention research. Methods: We conducted a bibliometric analysis of publications on the prevention of EDs using the Web of Science database, from 1993 to 2023. Focusing on universal and selective prevention strategies, our study involved a rigorous selection process, narrowing down from 10,546 to 383 relevant papers through manual screening. The analysis utilized the “bibliometrix” R package (version 4.2.2) and Python (version 3.9.6) for data processing, with VOSviewer employed for mapping collaboration networks. Results: Our analysis revealed a consistent annual growth rate of 10.85% in ED prevention research publications, with significant contributions from the “International Journal of Eating Disorders” and some notable authors. The United States emerged as the dominant contributor. The analysis also highlighted key trends, including a surge in publications between 2010 and 2017, and the role of major institutions in advancing research in this field. Discussion: The increasing rate of publications on the prevention of EDs is encouraging. However, the actual number of studies on the prevention of EDs are limited, and the majority of this work is performed by a few research groups. Given the high concentration of publications within a few countries and research groups, increased funding, facilitation of prevention research on a wider scale, and engagement of more researchers and further collaboration are called for.

Monson H., Demaine J., Perryman A., Felfeli T.

ObjectivesThe objective of this analysis is to present a current view of the field of ophthalmology and vision research and artificial intelligence (AI) from topical and geographical perspectives. This will clarify the direction of the field in the future and aid clinicians in adapting to new technological developments.MethodsA comprehensive search of four different databases was conducted. Statistical and bibliometric analysis were done to characterise the literature. Softwares used included the R Studio bibliometrix package, and VOSviewer.ResultsA total of 3939 articles were included in the final bibliometric analysis. Diabetic retinopathy (391, 6% of the top 100 keywords) was the most frequently occurring indexed keyword by a large margin. The highest impact literature was produced by the least populated countries and in those countries who collaborate internationally. This was confirmed via a hypothesis test where no correlation was found between gross number of published articles and average number of citations (p value=0.866, r=0.038), while graphing ratio of international collaboration against average citations produced a positive correlation (r=0.283). Majority of publications were found to be concentrated in journals specialising in vision and computer science, with this category of journals having the highest number of publications per journal (18.00 publications/journal), though they represented a small proportion of the total journals (<1%).ConclusionThis study provides a unique characterisation of the literature at the intersection of AI and ophthalmology and presents correlations between article impact and geography, in addition to summarising popular research topics.

Calo F., Sancino A., Scognamiglio F.

Vakkari P.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to characterize library and information science (LIS) as fragmenting discipline both historically and by applying Whitley’s (1984) theory about the organization of sciences and Fuchs’ (1993) theory about scientific change.Design/methodology/approachThe study combines historical source analysis with conceptual and theoretical analysis for characterizing LIS. An attempt is made to empirically validate the distinction between LIS context, L&I services and information seeking as fragmented adhocracies and information retrieval and scientific communication (scientometrics) as technologically integrated bureaucracies.FindingsThe origin of fragmentation in LIS due the contributions of other disciplines can be traced in the 1960s and 1970s for solving the problems produced by the growth of scientific literature. Computer science and business established academic programs and started research relevant to LIS community focusing on information retrieval and bibliometrics. This has led to differing research interests between LIS and other disciplines concerning research topics and methods. LIS has been characterized as fragmented adhocracy as a whole, but we make a distinction between research topics LIS context, L&I services and information seeking as fragmented adhocracies and information retrieval and scientific communication (scientometrics) as technologically integrated bureaucracies.Originality/valueThe paper provides an elaborated historical perspective on the fragmentation of LIS in the pressure of other disciplines. It also characterizes LIS as discipline in a fresh way by applying Whitley’s (1984) theory.