Purpose: To present a method for systematically mapping diversity of publication patterns at the author level in the social sciences and humanities in terms of publication type, publication language and co-authorship.
Design/methodology/approach: In a follow-up to the hard partitioning clustering by Verleysen and Weeren in 2016, we now propose the complementary use of fuzzy cluster analysis, making use of a membership coefficient to study gradual differences between publication styles among authors within a scholarly discipline. The analysis of the probability density function of the membership coefficient allows to assess the distribution of publication styles within and between disciplines.
Findings: As an illustration we analyze 1,828 productive authors affiliated in Flanders, Belgium. Whereas a hard partitioning previously identified two broad publication styles, an international one vs. a domestic one, fuzzy analysis now shows gradual differences among authors. Internal diversity also varies across disciplines and can be explained by researchers' specialization and dissemination strategies.
Research limitations: The dataset used is limited to one country for the years 2000-2011; a cognitive classification of authors may yield a different result from the affiliation-based classification used here.
Practical implications: Our method is applicable to other bibliometric and research evaluation contexts, especially for the social sciences and humanities in non-Anglophone countries.
Originality/value: The method proposed is a novel application of cluster analysis to the field of bibliometrics. Applied to publication patterns at the author level in the social sciences and humanities, for the first time it systematically documents intra-disciplinary diversity.
Frederik T. Verleysen
,
Arie Weeren
. Mapping Diversity of Publication Patterns in the Social Sciences and Humanities: An Approach Making Use of Fuzzy Cluster Analysis[J]. Journal of Data and Information Science, 2016
, 1(4)
: 33
-59
.
DOI: 10.20309/jdis.201624
Chi, P.S. (2015). Changing publication and citation patterns in political science in Germany. Scientometrics, 105, 1833-1848.
Dunn, J.C. (1976). Indices of partition fuzziness and the detection of clusters in large data sets. In M. Gupta (Ed.), Fuzzy Automata and Decision Processes. New York:Elsevier.
Engels, T.C.E., Ossenblok, T.L.B., & Spruyt, E.H.J. (2012). Changing publication patterns in the social sciences and humanities, 2000-2009. Scientometrics, 93(2), 373-390.
Hicks, D. (2004). The four literatures of social science. In H. F. Moed, W. Glänzel, & U. Schmoch(Eds.), Handbook of Quantitative Science and Technology Research:The Use of Publication and Patent Statistics in Studies of S&T Systems (pp. 473-496). Dordrecht:Kluwer Academic.
Johnson, R.A., & Wichern, D.W. (1992). Applied multivariate statistical analysis (Third ed.). New Jersey:Prentice Hall.
Kaufman, L., & Rousseeuw, P.J. (1990). Finding groups in data:An introduction to cluster analysis. New York:Wiley.
Kyvik, S. (2003). Changing trends in publishing behaviour among university faculty, 1980-2000. Scientometrics, 58(1), 35-48.
Lin, Y., & Kaid, L.L. (2000). Fragmentation of the intellectual structure of political communication study:Some empirical evidence. Scientometrics, 47(1), 143-164.
Moody, J. (2004). The structure of a social science collaboration network:Disciplinary cohesion from 1963-1999. American Sociological Review, 69(2), 213-239.
Nederhof, A.J. (2006). Bibliometric monitoring of research performance in the social sciences and the humanities:A review. Scientometrics, 66(1), 81-100.
Nederhof, A.J. (2011). A bibliometric study of productivity and impact of modern language and literature research. Research in Science Education, 20(2), 117-129.
Ossenblok, T.L.B. (2016). Scientific communication in the social sciences and humanities. Analysis of publication and collaboration in Flanders. Antwerp. (University of Antwerp Ph.D. dissertation)
Persson, O. (2015). Bibliometric analysis of two subdomains in philosophy:Free will and sorites. Scientometrics, 103(1), 47-73.
Puuska, H.M. (2014). Scholarly publishing patterns in Finland-a comparison of disciplinary groups. (doctoral dissertation), University ofTampere, Tampere, Finland.
Sivertsen, G. (2009). Publication patterns in all fields. In F. Aström, R. Danell, B. Larsen, & J. W. Schneider (Eds.), Celebrating Scholarly Communication Studies:A Festschrift for Olle Persson at His 60th Birthday (pp. 55-60). Leuven, Belgium:International Society for Scientometrics and Informetrics.
Vanderstraeten, R. (2010). Scientific communication:Sociology journals and publication practices. Sociology, 44, 559-576.
Verleysen, F.T., & Weeren, A. (2016). Clustering by publication patterns of senior authors in the social sciences and humanities. Journal of Informetrics, 10, 254-272.
Whitley, R. (2000). The intellectual and social organization of the sciences. Oxford:Oxford University Press.