Urban scaling, the superlinear increase of socio-economic measures with increasing population, is a well-researched phenomenon. This article is focused on socio-economic performance scaling, which... Show moreUrban scaling, the superlinear increase of socio-economic measures with increasing population, is a well-researched phenomenon. This article is focused on socio-economic performance scaling, which could possibly be driven by increasing returns of the size and density of interaction networks. If this is indeed the case, we should also find that spatial barriers to interaction affect scaling and cause local performance deviations. Possible barring effects of municipal boundaries are important from the perspective of urban and regional governance. We test the hypothesis of barring effects by correlating municipal boundaries with the structure of commuter networks within a large densely urbanized region, the Randstad in The Netherlands. The measured impacts of these boundaries are correlated with local employment-scaling deviations. Applying spatially weighted modelling techniques, we find that municipal borders have significant effects on inter-municipal commuting and indicate these effects on the map. The results show particularly significant correlations along dividing lines between large urban agglomerations and rural communities. The southern part of the Randstad is more fragmented by such dividing lines than the northern part, which could partly explain the diverging economic development between the two parts. Show less
We investigate publications in medical research that have gone unnoticed for a number of years after being published and then suddenly become cited to a significant degree. Such publications are... Show moreWe investigate publications in medical research that have gone unnoticed for a number of years after being published and then suddenly become cited to a significant degree. Such publications are called Sleeping Beauties (SBs). This study focuses on SBs that are cited in patents. We find that the increasing trend of the relative number of SBs comes to an end around 1998. However, still a constant fraction of publications becomes an SB. Many SBs become highly cited publications, they even belong to the top-10 to 20% most cited publications in their field. We measured the scaling of the number of SBs in relation to the sleeping period length, during-sleep citation-intensity, and with awakening citation-intensity. We determined the Grand Sleeping Beauty Equation for these medical SBs which shows that the probability of awakening after a period of deep sleep is becoming rapidly smaller for longer sleeping periods and that the probability for higher awakening intensities decreases extremely rapidly. The exponents of the scaling functions show a time-dependent behavior which suggests a decreasing occurrence of SBs with longer sleeping periods. We demonstrate that the fraction of SBs cited by patents before scientific awakening exponentially increases. This finding shows that the technological time lag is becoming shorter than the sleeping time. Inventor-author self-citations may result in shorter technological time lags, but this effect is small. Finally, we discuss characteristics of an SBs that became one of the highest cited medical papers ever. Show less
Winnink, J.J.; Tijssen, R.J.W.; Raan, A.F.J. van 2018
In this study we design, develop, implement and test an analytical framework and measurement model to detect scientific discoveries with 'breakthrough' characteristics. To do so we have developed a... Show moreIn this study we design, develop, implement and test an analytical framework and measurement model to detect scientific discoveries with 'breakthrough' characteristics. To do so we have developed a series of computerized search algorithms that data mine large quantities of research publications. These algorithms facilitate early-stage detection of 'breakout' papers that emerge as highly cited and distinctive and are considered to be potential breakthroughs. Combining computer-aided data mining with decision heuristics, enabled us to assess structural changes within citation patterns with the international scientific literature. In our case studies we applied a citation impact time window of 24--36 months after publication of each research paper. In this paper, we report on our test results, in which five algorithms were applied to the entire Web of Science database. We analysed the citation impact patterns of all research articles from the period 1990--1994. We succeeded in detecting many papers with distinctive impact profiles (breakouts). A small subset of these breakouts is classified as 'breakthroughs': Nobel Prize research papers; papers occurring in Nature's Top-100 Most Cited Papers Ever; papers still (highly) cited by review papers or patents; or those frequently mentioned in today's social media. We also compare the outcomes of our algorithms with the results of a 'baseline' detection algorithm developed by Redner in 2005, which selects the world's most highly cited 'hot papers'.The detection rates of the algorithms vary, but overall, they present a powerful tool for tracing breakout papers in science. The wider applicability of these algorithms, across all science fields, has not yet been ascertained. Whether or not our early-stage breakout papers present a 'breakthrough' remains a matter of opinion, where input from subject experts is needed for verification and confirmation, but our detection approach certain helps to limit the search domain to trace and track important emerging topics in science. Show less
In this paper we investigate recent Sleeping Beauties cited in patents (SB-SNPRs). We find that the increasing trend of the relative number of SBs stopped around 1998. Moreover, we find that the... Show moreIn this paper we investigate recent Sleeping Beauties cited in patents (SB-SNPRs). We find that the increasing trend of the relative number of SBs stopped around 1998. Moreover, we find that the time lag between the publication year of the SB-SNPRs and their first citation in a patent is becoming shorter in recent years. Our observations also suggest that, on average, in the more recent years SBs are awakened increasingly earlier by a ‘technological prince’ rather than by a ‘scientific prince’. These observations suggest that SBs with technological importance are ‘discovered’ earlier in an application-oriented context. Then, because of this earlier recognized technological relevance, papers may be cited also earlier in a scientific context. Thus early recognized technological relevance may ‘prevent’ papers to become an SB. The scientific impact of Sleeping Beauties is generally not necessarily related to the technological importance of the SBs, as far as measured with number and impact of the citing patents. The analysis of the occurrence of inventor-author relations as well as the citation years of inventor-author patents suggest that the scientific awakening of Sleeping Beauties only rarely occurs by inventor-author self-citation. Show less
A ‘Sleeping Beauty in Science’ is a publication that goes unnoticed (‘sleeps’) for a long time and then, almost suddenly, attracts a lot of attention (‘is awakened by a prince’). In our foregoing... Show moreA ‘Sleeping Beauty in Science’ is a publication that goes unnoticed (‘sleeps’) for a long time and then, almost suddenly, attracts a lot of attention (‘is awakened by a prince’). In our foregoing study we found that roughly half of the Sleeping Beauties are application-oriented and thus are potential Sleeping Innovations. In this paper we investigate a new topic: Sleeping Beauties that are cited in patents. In this way we explore the existence of a dormitory of inventions. To our knowledge this is the first study of this kind. We investigate the time lag between publication of the Sleeping Beauty and the first citation by a patent. We find that patent citation may occur before or after the awakening and that the depth of the sleep, i.e., citation rate during the sleeping period, is no predictor for later scientific or technological impact of the Sleeping Beauty. A surprising finding is that Sleeping Beauties are significantly more cited in patents than ‘normal’ papers. Inventor–author self-citations relations occur only in a small minority of the Sleeping Beauties that are cited in patents, but other types of inventor–author links occur more frequently. We develop an approach in different steps to explore the cognitive environment of Sleeping Beauties cited in patents. First, we analyze whether they deal with new topics by measuring the time-dependent evolution in the entire scientific literature of the number of papers related to both the precisely defined topics as well as the broader research theme of the Sleeping Beauty during and after the sleeping time. Second, we focus on the awakening by analyzing the first group of papers that cites the Sleeping Beauty. Third, we create concept maps of the topic-related and the citing papers for a time period immediately following the awakening and for the most recent period. Finally, we make an extensive assessment of the cited and citing relations of the Sleeping Beauty. We find that tunable co-citation analysis is a powerful tool to discover the prince(s) and other important application-oriented work directly related to the Sleeping Beauty, for instance papers written by authors who cite Sleeping Beauties in both the patents of which they are the inventors, as well as in their scientific papers. Show less
Purpose: First, to review the state-of-the-art in patent citation analysis, particularly characteristics of patent citations to scientific literature (scientific non-patent references,SNPRs).... Show morePurpose: First, to review the state-of-the-art in patent citation analysis, particularly characteristics of patent citations to scientific literature (scientific non-patent references,SNPRs). Second, to present a novel mapping approach to identify technology-relevant research based on the papers cited by and referring to the SNPRs. Design/methodology/approach: In the review part we discuss the context of SNPRs such as the time lags between scientific achievements and inventions. Also patent-to-patent citation is addressed particularly because this type of patent citation analysis is a major element in the assessment of the economic value of patents. We also review the research on the role of universities and researchers in technological development, with important issues such as universities as sources of technological knowledge and inventor-author relations. We conclude the review part of this paper with an overview of recent research on mapping and network analysis of the science and technology interface and of technological progress in interaction with science. In the second part we apply new techniques for the direct visualization of the cited and citing relations of SNPRs, the mapping of the landscape around SNPRs by bibliographic coupling and co-citation analysis, and the mapping of the conceptual environment of SNPRs by keyword co-occurrence analysis. Findings: We discuss several properties of SNPRs. Only a small minority of publications covered by the Web of Science or Scopus are cited by patents, about 3%–4%. However, for publications based on university-industry collaboration the number of SNPRs is considerably higher, around 15%. The proposed mapping methodology based on a “second order SNPR approach” enables a better assessment of the technological relevance of research. Research limitations: The main limitation is that a more advanced merging of patent and publication data, in particular unification of author and inventor names, in still a necessity. Practical implications: The proposed mapping methodology enables the creation of a database of technology-relevant papers (TRPs). In a bibliometric assessment the publications of research groups, research programs or institutes can be matched with the TRPs and thus the extent to which the work of groups, programs or institutes are relevant for technological development can be measured. Originality/value: The review part examines a wide range of findings in the research of patent citation analysis. The mapping approach to identify a broad range of technology relevant papers is novel and offers new opportunities in research evaluation practices. Show less
Raan, A.F.J. van; Van der Meulen, G.; Goedhart, W. 2016
In this chapter we present a short overview of the application of bibliometric methods for the assessment of research performance and the mapping of scientific fields. The first method concerns the... Show moreIn this chapter we present a short overview of the application of bibliometric methods for the assessment of research performance and the mapping of scientific fields. The first method concerns the detailed analysis of the impact of research in an international perspective. These analyses can be used at different aggregation levels and in different contexts such as university research groups, institutes, R&D departments of companies, scientific organizations, research programs of charities, framework programs of the EC, or the research of an entire university or country. These bibliometric performance analyses are an indispensable element in evaluation procedures next to peer review. The second method focuses on the creation of science maps on the basis of word or citation similarity of publications. These science maps are unique tools to discover patterns in the structure of fields, the emergence of new research themes, and research related to important socio-economic issues. We describe these bibliometric methods with ‘real life' examples and discuss in brief current issues such as the h-index, the journal impact factor, webometrics and university rankings. Show less
We investigate the extent to which advances in the health and life sciences (HLS) are dependent on research in the engineering and physical sciences (EPS), particularly physics, chemistry,... Show moreWe investigate the extent to which advances in the health and life sciences (HLS) are dependent on research in the engineering and physical sciences (EPS), particularly physics, chemistry, mathematics, and engineering. The analysis combines two different bibliometric approaches. The first approach to analyze the ‘EPS-HLS interface' is based on term map visualizations of HLS research fields. We consider 16 clinical fields and five life science fields. On the basis of expert judgment, EPS research in these fields is studied by identifying EPS-related terms in the term maps. In the second approach, a large-scale citation-based network analysis is applied to publications from all fields of science. We work with about 22,000 clusters of publications, each representing a topic in the scientific literature. Citation relations are used to identify topics at the EPS-HLS interface. The two approaches complement each other. The advantages of working with textual data compensate for the limitations of working with citation relations and the other way around. An important advantage of working with textual data is in the in-depth qualitative insights it provides. Working with citation relations, on the other hand, yields many relevant quantitative statistics. We find that EPS research contributes to HLS developments mainly in the following five ways: new materials and their properties; chemical methods for analysis and molecular synthesis; imaging of parts of the body as well as of biomaterial surfaces; medical engineering mainly related to imaging, radiation therapy, signal processing technology, and other medical instrumentation; mathematical and statistical methods for data analysis. In our analysis, about 10% of all EPS and HLS publications are classified as being at the EPS-HLS interface. This percentage has remained more or less constant during the past decade. Show less
Opthof and Leydesdorff (Scientometrics, 2011) reanalyze data reported byVan Raan (Scientometrics 67(3):491–502, 2006) and conclude that there is no significantcorrelation between on the one hand... Show moreOpthof and Leydesdorff (Scientometrics, 2011) reanalyze data reported byVan Raan (Scientometrics 67(3):491–502, 2006) and conclude that there is no significantcorrelation between on the one hand average citation scores measured using the CPP/FCSm indicator and on the other hand the quality judgment of peers. We point out thatOpthof and Leydesdorff draw their conclusions based on a very limited amount of data. Wealso criticize the statistical methodology used by Opthof and Leydesdorff. Using a largeramount of data and a more appropriate statistical methodology, we do find a significantcorrelation between the CPP/FCSm indicator and peer judgment. Show less
Raan, A.F.J. van; Leeuwen, T. N. van; Visser, M.S. 2011
We applied a set of standard bibliometric indicators to monitor the scientificstate-of-arte of 500 universities worldwide and constructed a ranking on the basis of theseindicators (Leiden Ranking... Show moreWe applied a set of standard bibliometric indicators to monitor the scientificstate-of-arte of 500 universities worldwide and constructed a ranking on the basis of theseindicators (Leiden Ranking 2010). We find a dramatic and hitherto largely underestimatedlanguage effect in the bibliometric, citation-based measurements of research performancewhen comparing the ranking based on all Web of Science (WoS) covered publications andon only English WoS covered publications, particularly for Germany and France. Show less
Raan, A.F.J. van; Leeuwen, T.N. van; Visser, M.S. 2011
In applying a set of standardbibliometric indicators to rankthe scientific status of 500universities worldwide for the2010 Leiden Ranking, we havediscovered that the language ofpublication has a... Show moreIn applying a set of standardbibliometric indicators to rankthe scientific status of 500universities worldwide for the2010 Leiden Ranking, we havediscovered that the language ofpublication has a dramatic andlargely underestimated effect oncitation-based measurements ofresearch performance. Show less
