Camilla Hertil Lindelöw Swedish School of Library and Information Science, University of Borås, Borås, Sweden
Björn Hammarfelt Swedish School of Library and Information Science, University of Borås, Borås, Sweden
Alysson Mazoni Instituto de Geociências, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil
Source
JASIST (Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology)
DOI: 10.1002/asi.25018
Abstract
Traditionally, the bibliometric community has relied heavily on secondary data sources, most prominently the Science Citation Index. By analyzing three key journals, we detected trends in the data sources used over a 45-year period (1978–2022). The historical analysis of data sources reveals a consistency in the materials used as well as bursts of new materials and approaches. On a larger scale, the pattern is stable with Web of Science and Scopus dominating, but this might be about to change. The complexity of the research performed in bibliometrics does not seem to increase as a vast majority of studies use one or two types of data sources despite the increasing availability of data. A more detailed analysis detects trends in the use of data, as represented by patent analyses in the 1980s, webometrics in the late 1990s, and altmetrics in the 2010s. Overall, the paper provides an analytical overview of current and historical data sources used in bibliometrics, which may guide and inspire further research. The question remaining, however, is how the current emphasis on open sources will transform the field in the future: are we entering the great wide open, or will established proprietary databases remain a dominating source?
The most-used bibliographical metadata sources after Web of Science and Scopus throughout the period 1978–2022. Source: 10.1002/asi.25018
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area.
He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.
