Citation patterns of Korean physicists and mechanical engineers: Differences by type of publication source and type of authorship

By comparing the citation patterns of Korean researchers in physics and mechanical engineering, this study identifies the extent to which type of publication source (Korean non-SCI, Korean SCI, and international SCI) and type of authorship (purely Korean authors, Korean-foreign co-authors, and foreign-Korean co-authors) influence the choice of sources cited by Korean scientists. Koreans publishing physics or mechanical engineering papers in international SCI journals are more likely to cite articles published in journals of the science mainstream countries (the U.S., the U.K., the Netherlands, and Germany) than articles published in national journals, while Koreans publishing in Korean journals tend to cite articles published in national journals. In terms of authorship, articles published in mainstream journals are more highly cited by internationally co-authored papers than Korean-authored papers in both disciplines. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Collaboration Patterns in Indian and Bulgarian Epidemiology of Neoplasms in Medline for 1966–1999

The publication output of India and Bulgaria on epidemiology of neoplasms as reflected in Medline on CD-ROM for 1966–1999 was scientometrically analyzed. Indians have published 347 papers in 24 domestic journals but 444 papers in169 journals from 21 countries. Bulgarians have published 88 papers in 6 Bulgarian journals but 63 papers in 39 journals from 13 countries. Some 17 journals from 8 countries contained papers by Indian and Bulgarian authors both. Oncology dominated with 46 different journals. Indians have published papers in foreign journals of 30 thematic profiles but Bulgarians - of 12 ones. The collaboration of Indians and Bulgarians resulted from joint bilateral projects and/or postgraduate studies abroad. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Characteristics of papers published in journals: an analysis of open access journals,country of publication,and languages used

This study explores how the citation of open access (OA) journal articles occurs by analyzing the impact of certain journal characteristics, namely, whether the journal is OA and whether its country of publication is the same as the affiliation of a paper’s author. As the language of a paper is an important factor contributing to paper citations, this study uses papers in English. This analysis included publications from 77 countries from 2010 to 2012. This analysis included 19,530 journals and 3,215,742 papers without duplication. The results showed that papers published in OA and international journals were cited in more countries than non-OA and domestic journals, and a higher percentage of these were being cited by foreign countries. From these findings, it was determined that the more widely accessible OA journals were effectively being accessed by researchers from multiple countries. However, of the top 10% most cited papers in international journals, a higher percentage of these came from non-OA compared to OA journals. Among domestic journals, no such difference was found. Papers published in non-OA international journals were most cited in foreign countries with a large number of published papers. Hence, the effect of OA’s expanded accessibility, while having an apparent effect on heightening the interest of foreign readership, has a limited impact in terms of increasing citations.     

A Comparison of Iranian Scientific Publications in the Science Citation Index: 1985–1989 and 1990–1994

Iranian scientific publications in the Science Citation Index for two five-year periods, 1985–1989 and 1990–1994, were compared. Distributions of various attributes of the publication output for the two periods were obtained primarily through the Rank command of the Dialog Online System. Results include: productivity by publication year and by ranked order of the most productive Iranian authors; influence or impact of the most productive Iranian authors by ranking them as cited authors; collaboration of Iranian scientists with scientists from other countries; and the journals Iranian scientists published in and the journals they cite in their papers. The subject areas of Iran's scientific publications were examined vis-à-vis the world's publication output and that of the Third World Countries (TWC).     

Authorship patterns in marine mammal science, 1985–1993

Authorship studies in such disciplines as physics and economics show that with the passage of time there has been an increase in the number of authors per paper, indicating a trend toward more collaboration. In this study, a search was run on the Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts database to identify marine mammal science papers published from 1985 to 1993. A total of 1308 papers published in scientific journals was examined. There were weak but statistically significant trends in the increase in the number of authors per paper as well as in the number of multi-authored papers written by authors from different institutions, with the passage of time. Possible reasons for these results include the increasing specialization of researchers necessitating collaboration, more access to electronic means of communication, and more competition for research funds. Confounding factors in this analysis include the possibility that different journals have different publication patterns and regional vs. national/international journal differences.     

Papers written by Nobel Prize winners in physics before they won the prize: an analysis of their language and journal of publication

In this paper, we analyzed data relating to the language of papers written by winners of Nobel Prizes in physics before they won the prize and their journals of publication, and we identified the change in scientific language corresponding with shifts of the center of the scientific world. Using the science citation index as the main data source, we also collected information on the distribution of prize-winning scientists by country, by each scientist’s number of published papers, and by language. We then analyzed their papers in terms of the different journals based in different countries. The results are presented in three parts: (1) the main languages used in the papers are English and German. The proportion of papers in English is gradually increasing, while that of papers in German is decreasing. (2) The prize winning scientists’ papers have been published mainly in journals in their own nation and in the United States. (3) Journals based in their own countries are very helpful to these scientists early in their careers.     

Scientometrics of laser research in India and China

An analysis of 1223 papers published by India (347papers) and China (876papers) at conferences and in journals during 1993 and 1997 in the field of laser S&T indicates that China"s output was twice to that of India. However, Activity Indices for both the countries in 1993 and 1997 were almost the same. Chinese scientists preferred to publish in domestic journals, while Indian scientists published in foreign journals. The number of papers by Indian scientists in SCI covered journals and journals with high-Normalized Impact Factors was more than for China, and, thus India was better connected to the mainstream science compared to China. The impact made by Indian papers was more than for Chinese papers, as reflected by normalized impact per paper, proportion of papers in high quality journals, and publication effective index. Indian papers also got more citations per paper than Chinese papers. Team research appears to be better in China than in India, as reflected by the number of mega-authored papers produced by the two countries. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Use of publication lists to study scientific production and strategies of scientists in developing countries

A bibliometric study using the lists of publications and work of 207 scientists working in Asia, Latin America and Africa was conducted. Number of authored and co-authored articles published in scientific journals and bulletins, conference papers, books, chapters of books, reports were taken into consideration to measure the total scientific output. Local vs. international production was also determined by scientific fields, geographic areas, sexe and language of publication. Co-authorship studies were also used to particularly measure the degree of collaboration and dependance of Developing Countries' (DC) scientists on foreign co-authors. An analysis of the references used (age, origins) was also made. Conclusions drawn concern the comparatively specific nature of science produces by DC's researcher. Partly given the importance of the scientific production published in local journals, the inadequacy of international databases to study Dc science is confirmed. Most of the DC scientists published in both national and international journals. They often cite their colleagues from the developed countries but their own work being less visible is seldom cited.Paper presented at the International Conference on Science Indicators for Developing Countries, Paris, 15–19 October, 1990     

Bibliometric analysis of Patent Ductus Arteriosus treatments

A bibliometric analysis was performed to assess the quantitative trend of Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) treatment research, including intravenous injection of indomethacin and surgery. The documents studied were retrieved from the Science Citation Index (SCI) for the period from 1991 to 2002. The publication pattern concerning authorship, collaboration, original countries, citation frequency, document type, language of publication, distribution of journals, page count and the most frequently cited papers were performed. The results indicated that either treatment was not the recent emphasis of PDA research. The publishing countries of both treatments have also denoted that these researches were mostly done in Europe and North America. Both surgery and drug treatments had few international collaboration papers. English was the dominant language, and collaboration of two to six authors was the most popular level of co-authorship. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Publishing in international journals

This paper examines patterns of Chinese authorship, focusing particularly on international co-authorship, in a sample of 37,526 articles from Elsevier journals published in 2004. Trends relating to potential influences such as subject, journal impact factor and article type are explored. A slightly higher proportion of articles with at least one Chinese author was observed as compared to previous studies. Articles that are a product of Chinese international collaboration account for almost 20% of the Chinese sample as a whole, a similar proportion to levels of international collaboration within the sample overall. Chinese international co-authorship is most common in the Earth & Environmental Sciences. Where China is involved in international collaboration, it is often a proactive participant: 49% of articles that are a result of Chinese international collaboration have a Chinese corresponding author. With some minor variations in subject categories, countries favoured in international co-authorship reflect world shares in publishing and factors such as geographical proximity and political links. In the context of this project, the term ‘Chinese authors’ is used to refer to authors, regardless of nationality, who are based at Chinese institutions. The term does not include Chinese nationality authors who are based in institutions outwith China.     

Bibliometric analysis of pentachlorophenol remediation methods during the period of 1994 to 2005

A bibliometric analysis was performed to assess the quantitative trend of published pentachlorophenol (PCP) remediation studies, including both degradation and sorption. The documents studies were retrieved from the Science Citation Index (SCI) for the period from 1994 to 2005. The trends were analyzed with the retrieved results in publication language, document type, page count, publication output, publication pattern, authorship, citation analysis and country of publication. The results indicated that degradation was the emphasis for PCP remediation. The average impact factor of the journals was higher for publishing degradation studies in comparison to that publishing sorption studies. And there was a positive correlation between CPP and IF for journals published more than two papers. The publishing countries of both degradation and sorption denoted that most of these researches were done by USA and Canada. Two to four authors was the most popular level of co-authorship.     

The increasing role of international cooperation in science and technology research in Mexico

Increasing importance is being given to international scientific activities, especially with regard to developing countries. In the present paper, an analysis is made of the studies published by Mexican institutions in coauthorship with foreign colleagues between 1980 and 1990, as registered in mainstream journals. Different characteristics of the collaboration are described, such as research areas, countries and institutions involved, of interest to Mexican policy makers and scientists, as well as to foreign governments and international organizations sponsoring cooperative agreements with Mexico.     

The role of domestic journals in geographically-oriented disciplines: The case of Spanish journals on earth sciences

The role of domestic journals in disseminating research results in the filed of Earth Sciences in Spain is discussed. The analysis is based on bibliometric indicators of Spanish scientific production, as well as on the opinion of Spanish researchers in this field, obtained through a specially designed survey. A reasonable correspondence has been found between the results of bibliometric analysis and scientists' judgements. Results show that 69% of Spanish articles in Earth Sciences were published in Spanish journals during the period 1990–1994. Scientists use both national and international journals to communicate, their research results, although due to the nature of the discipline, geographically oriented and therefore mostly devoted to local problems, they use basically domestic journals. In terms of international visibility, although none of the Spanish journals in this field is covered by the SCI, most of them are covered by some of the most representative international databases in the field concerned. The study points out the importance of domestic journals in the field of Earth Sciences in Spain.     

An exploratory study on collaboration profiles of Chinese publications in Molecular Biology

Summary As science has become much complex and sophisticated, greater attention is paid to scientific collaboration within recent bibliometric studies. A total of 6538 publications in Molecular Biology from China during 1999-2003, as indicated by data collected from database of the Science Citation Index Expanded - Web Edition, have been analyzed. A large proportion of publications have been authored by more than 3 scientists. The composition of publications grouped by collaboration patterns are: 1.58% non-collaborative papers, 42.43% local papers, 34.37% domestic papers and 21.62% international papers on average during the studied period. The countries with which China has collaborative links and their frequencies are all itemized to indicate the intensity of international collaboration in the field of Molecular Biology. Finally, the differences between the impact of wholly indigenous papers and internationally collaborative papers have been compared. The results indicate that foreign collaboration does contribute a lot to the improvement of the mainstream connectivity and international visibility.     

Characteristics of monographic special issues in Ibero-American psychology journals: visibility and relevance for authors and publishers

This paper aims to determine the existence of differential characteristics between monographic special issues and regular non-monographic issues published by psychology journals according to different bibliometric indicators. The materials studied consisted of a total of 1120 articles published in 10 Ibero-American psychology journals included in the JCRs from 2013 to 2015. The number of monographic articles was 286 and the non-monographic works were 834. The results indicate that the articles published in monographic special issue journal receive a higher number of citations and that their publication times are shorter. A greater presence of journal committee members as authors of the papers in monographic special issues was also observed, and the number of authors per paper was lower compared to articles published in non-monographs. As a conclusion, publishing papers in monographic special issues versus non-monographic in the reviewed journals has some advantages for both journals and authors, such as greater international visibility and shorter publication times.     

Research productivity of scientists in consolidated vs. non-consolidated teams: The case of Spanish university geologists

We present some results of an evaluation of research performance of Spanish senior university researchers in Geology. We analyse to what extent productivity of individual researchers is influenced by the level of consolidation of the team they belong to. Methodology is based on the combination of a mail survey carried out among a defined set of researchers, and a bibliometric study of their scientific output. Differences among researchers have been investigated with regard to team size and composition, patterns of publication in domestic and foreign journals, productivity, co-authorship of papers, and impact of publications. Results indicate that not belonging to a research team represents a handicap at the time of publishing in top international journals. Researchers belonging to consolidated teams are more productive than their colleagues in non-consolidated teams, and these in turn more than individuals without team. Team size does not appear to be as important for scientific productivity as the number of researchers within the team that reached a stable job position. Analysis of the impact factor of journals has not revealed differences among researchers with regard to the visibility of their papers. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Comprehensive bibliographic coverage of the social sciences and humanities in a citation index: an empirical analysis of the potential

A well-designed and comprehensive citation index for the social sciences and humanities has many potential uses, but has yet to be realised. Significant parts of the scholarly production in these areas are not published in international journals, but in national scholarly journals, in book chapters or in monographs. The potential for covering these literatures more comprehensively can now be investigated empirically using a complete publication output data set from the higher education sector of an entire country (Norway). We find that while the international journals in the social sciences and humanities are rather small and more dispersed in specialties, representing a large but not unlimited number of outlets, the domestic journal publishing, as well as book publishing on both the international and domestic levels, show a concentration of many publications in few publication channels. These findings are promising for a more comprehensive coverage of the social sciences and humanities.     

A bibliometric analysis of physics publications from Middle Eastern countries

I studied the publication efforts in physics in Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Turkey in terms of a total number of 2368 papers from these countries in international journals for 1990–1994. I looked for the national contributions, main subjects of activity, journal preferences of authors, and co-authorship patterns. Comparisons show that physicists from Egypt and Turkey combined, produced 75% of the total publication output. Half of the Egyptian papers went only to 16% of a set of 115 journals that publish papers from this country. Such a high concentration of papers in a few journals was not the case for the rest of the countries. Condensed matter physics was found to be among the three most active subjects for the countries except Iran. Iranian authors tended to be more active in astrosciences, and nuclear science and technology. I found a change in the publication patterns of the Middle Eastern physicists in the direction of decreasing isolation and increasing collaboration.