This study investigates the convergence of two bibliometric approaches to the measurement of interdisciplinary research: one based on analyzing disciplinary diversity in the reference list of... Show moreThis study investigates the convergence of two bibliometric approaches to the measurement of interdisciplinary research: one based on analyzing disciplinary diversity in the reference list of publications, the other based on the disciplinary diversity of authors of publications. In particular we measure the variety, balance, disparity and integrated diversity index of, respectively, single author, multi author single field, and multi author multi field publications. We find that, in general, the diversity of the reference list grows with the number of fields reflected in a paper’s byline and, to a lesser extent, with the number of authors given the same number of fields. Further, we find that when fields belonging to different disciplines are reflected in the byline, the disparity in the reference list is accordingly higher. However, this general tendency varies across different disciplines. Show less
Self-archiving in Institutional Repositories (IRs) is playing a central role in the success of the Open Access initiatives. Deposited documents are more visible and probably they get more downloads... Show moreSelf-archiving in Institutional Repositories (IRs) is playing a central role in the success of the Open Access initiatives. Deposited documents are more visible and probably they get more downloads and citations, but making them freely available in a local repository is not enough. Social tools, both public and academic targeting, networking or silo oriented, should be taken into account for reaching larger audiences and increase not only the scholarly but also the social impact. This communication explores the presence of IRs contents in 28 social tools (Academia, Bibsonomy, CiteUlike, CrossRef, Datadryad, Facebook, Figshare, Google+, GitHub, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Reddit, RenRen, ResearchGate, Scribd, SlideShare, Tumblr, Twitter, Vimeo, VKontakte, Weibo, Wikipedia All Languages, Wikipedia English, Wikia, Wikimedia, YouTube and Zenodo) using a webometric approach. The link mentions of 2185 IRs in the cited tools were collected during July 2017 from Google selected data centers. The results showed that most of the IRs have no strong presence in the most specializes tools and even for the most popular services the figures are not high enough too. Lack of strategies and bad practices are suggested as possible explanations for the low altmetrics figures. Show less
The paper analyses Russian Index of Science Citation (RISC), a national citation database. We continue our previous study (Moskaleva et al., 2018) and focus on difference between bibliometric... Show moreThe paper analyses Russian Index of Science Citation (RISC), a national citation database. We continue our previous study (Moskaleva et al., 2018) and focus on difference between bibliometric indicators calculated on, so to say, ""the best"" journals, so called RISC Core, and those which take into account all Russian journals available. Such a difference may show focuses of insitutional actors on different document types, publication strategies etc. Show less
This study analyses the differences between what the academic communities of a country regard should be included as original research publications for evaluation and funding and what the commercial... Show moreThis study analyses the differences between what the academic communities of a country regard should be included as original research publications for evaluation and funding and what the commercial providers of Scopus and Web of Science are able to provide within a similar limitation to publication type. The patterns of differences are described both with regard to publication type, field of research and language. Show less
Álvarez-Bornstein, B.; Bordons, M.; Costas, R.; Calero-Medina, C. 2018
This paper analyse the funding structure of seven countries that differ in their level of economic development, geo-political links, and R&D intensity (Brazil, Germany, The Netherlands, South... Show moreThis paper analyse the funding structure of seven countries that differ in their level of economic development, geo-political links, and R&D intensity (Brazil, Germany, The Netherlands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain and Sweden), in two biomedical disciplines (Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems and Virology). The main objectives are (1)to provide a general overview of the research funding structure through the analysis of FAs recorded in publication, and (2) to explore what countries benefit more from international funding support, to what extent this support is associated to international collaboration and whether there are cross-country differences in the trend of countries to lead internationally funded research. Show less
This article presents an exploratory analysis of which disciplines acknowledge more financial support (through funding acknowledgments - FA) and those whose publications attract more attention on... Show moreThis article presents an exploratory analysis of which disciplines acknowledge more financial support (through funding acknowledgments - FA) and those whose publications attract more attention on Twitter. We argue that such combined approach can provide interesting information for both funding bodies and policy makers about how funding activities and the attention in social media of scientific research relate to each other. Show less
Despite growing interest among scholars and policy-makers in better understanding the effects of international mobility on knowledge transfer, little is known about whether and how international... Show moreDespite growing interest among scholars and policy-makers in better understanding the effects of international mobility on knowledge transfer, little is known about whether and how international mobility of scientists affects their propensity to engage in knowledge transfer. So far, there are no adequate methods to measure knowledge transfer of internationally mobile scientists. Most of the previous studies using bibliometrics as an instrument to explore international mobility of scientists have focused either on mobility flows or on productivity and citation impact analyses. In this paper, I address the knowledge gap of whether international mobility leads to knowledge transfer and advance our understanding of how knowledge transfer processes can be identified and visualized. Therefore, I describe a new approach that builds upon bibliometric networks as an instrument to study characteristics of formal knowledge transfer. The method presented is based on the assumption that international mobility fosters collaboration that finds its expression in co-authored publications. Whenever scientists co-publish they interact so that different types of knowledge can be transferred, i.e. tacit knowledge that is not yet codified in publications and formal knowledge such as the recommendation to read a publication. Informing colleagues about relevant literature is one specific form of knowledge transfer and is operationalized in this study as the “passing on of references”. Based on a data set comprising German scientists and their co-authors publishing between 2007 and 2015 in journals covered by Scopus, I provide co-authorship networks where nodes represent authors using a specific reference and edges denote the co-authorship relation between two nodes. The references under study are rarely used according to Scopus and were assumingly passed on through international mobility. The method I present is capable of identifying actors involved in knowledge transfer and the network-based visualization helps to comprehend knowledge flows. Drawing evidence from several network diagrams, I conclude that internationally mobile scientists act both as receivers and transmitters of knowledge. Findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of how international mobility impacts knowledge transfer. Show less
With intensification of transnational academic mobility, rise in cross-border cooperation and expansion of global collaboration networks, science and higher education are increasingly... Show moreWith intensification of transnational academic mobility, rise in cross-border cooperation and expansion of global collaboration networks, science and higher education are increasingly internationalized. United Kingdom is one of the leading research nations that continues to accommodate great number of scholars from different regions around the globe. UK has also become one of the major migration destinations for scientists from countries of former Soviet Union (FSU), especially for those specializing in STEM subjects. Though many studies are concerned with scale, reasons and consequences of this intellectual migration, women are largely absent from these accounts, despite the fact that from the Soviet past women have been substantially represented among research and teaching staff in engineering and technical disciplines in FSU countries. This paper seeks to partially fill this gap by exploring migration experiences of Russian-speaking female computer scientists (FCS) in the UK in 1990s-2000s. Taken into account that women are reported to be disadvantaged in computer science as a male dominated discipline and may suffer from additional pressure as immigrants in the host country, the study aims to answer the following questions: Who are FCS, where do they come from and what position in the host country academia do they occupy? What tensions and difficulties do women scientists encounter in their cross-border movement? What strategies do they develop to overcome these difficulties and achieve professional advancement in the British academia? What is the specificity of migrant experiences of female scientists in comparison to their male counterparts? The study is based on the analysis of semi-structured interviews and open Internet sources (university websites, CVs, social networks, specialized publications databases). Show less
Araújo Almeida, B. de; Xavier, P.; Barreto, M. 2018
The deployment of administrative databases for research purposes holds great potential. Administrative data becomes even more useful when linked to other datasets, making it possible to elucidate... Show moreThe deployment of administrative databases for research purposes holds great potential. Administrative data becomes even more useful when linked to other datasets, making it possible to elucidate the effects of combined factors that could potentially impact the health of populations. On the other hand, the access, use and reuse of these administrative datasets, principally those containing personally identifiable information, are all topics being widely discussed nowadays in an effort to maintain confidentiality, protect individuals’ privacy, respect terms of consent and manage security or other risks. For these reasons, we believe that our data management experience at the Fiocruz Center of Data and Knowledge Integration for Health (CIDACS) in Brazil can make a significant contribution by providing high-quality linked data for research purposes and generating evidence for public health policy. Show less
Collecting the right data to represent research impact is only half of the battle for policymakers and researchers. Only when it has gained broad acceptance among stakeholders, and is placed into... Show moreCollecting the right data to represent research impact is only half of the battle for policymakers and researchers. Only when it has gained broad acceptance among stakeholders, and is placed into the right part of a university’s organisational structure can institutional data become indicators, drivers of institutional change and measures of performance. This paper is details a four stage process for constructing and implementing new indicators for entrepreneurial activity in universities. The first is the consolidation of the concept, or vision of the university. The second is the formation of indicators following academic research, here exemplified by the Global Entrepreneurial University Metrics (GEUM) initiative. The third is building public awareness and acceptance of indicators, in this case by way of a university ranking. The final stage is building the institutional structures for implementing indicators and collecting and presenting results. Show less
Jamil Salmi wrote in The Challenge of Establishing World Class Universities (2009) that the University of São Paulo possessed two of the necessary three conditions to become a world class... Show moreJamil Salmi wrote in The Challenge of Establishing World Class Universities (2009) that the University of São Paulo possessed two of the necessary three conditions to become a world class university; a concentration of talent and financial resources, the third leg of his tripod, favourable governance, was to be improved. By extension, the governance model of Latin American Flagship Universities needs institutional agility to implement a strategic vision and form the outward-looking, global view required to be considered among of the world’s great universities. This paper details a research project funded by the São Paulo State Research Council (FAPESP) to analyse the abilities of the three São Paulo state universities to produce consistent, comparable and reliable performance indicators and build capabilities to implement them. The project first carried out an analysis of the existing capacities of the universities, as well as the wider policy framework that formed them. It then brought together decision makers within the universities and research councils, together with the staff responsible for data collection and presentation and researchers in the fields of public policy, scientometry and administration from all three universities. Show less
The aim of this study is to examine the number of altmetric counts reported by Mendeley, Altmetric.com and PlumX at two points in time: in June 2017 and in April 2018 and to compare the reported... Show moreThe aim of this study is to examine the number of altmetric counts reported by Mendeley, Altmetric.com and PlumX at two points in time: in June 2017 and in April 2018 and to compare the reported altmetrics at each data collection point. Show less
This analysis examines trade journals as an example of the less observed publication types in bibliometric databases. It is shown that they appear in considerable numbers both in Scopus and the Web... Show moreThis analysis examines trade journals as an example of the less observed publication types in bibliometric databases. It is shown that they appear in considerable numbers both in Scopus and the Web of Science and that their bibliometric properties (citation behavior, document type distribution, field differences) differ significantly from academic journals. An example of how trade journals influence bibliometric indicator calculations on a field level is also provided. Lastly, German institutions and sectors are identified that publish most in trade journals. Hereby, a target audience is inferred, leading to the conclusion that bibliometric databases provide not only insights in intra-scientific communication but also about knowledge transfer. Some remarks regarding how bibliometricians should handle different publication types to increase construct validity complement this analysis. Show less
Besselaar, P. van den; Schiffbaenker, H.; Sandström, U.; Mom, M. 2018
To explain lower success rates of female applicants in ERC grants, we collected data about past performance of the applicants, and we interviewed panel members about how selection criteria are... Show moreTo explain lower success rates of female applicants in ERC grants, we collected data about past performance of the applicants, and we interviewed panel members about how selection criteria are practiced in general and specifically for female vs. male applicants. Controlling for several past performance variables, we still do find gender bias – more often in favor of men than of women. The analysis of the interviews provides empirical evidence that current evaluation practices indeed are not at all optimal, leading to gender-biased practices and outcomes. Show less
The paths via which university-generated knowledge reaches final users and creates value are traditionally considered to be the supply-side channels of the commercialisation of inventions,... Show moreThe paths via which university-generated knowledge reaches final users and creates value are traditionally considered to be the supply-side channels of the commercialisation of inventions, consultancy, and R&D contracts. Yet, this focus limits universities to being “providers” of knowledge and technology for industrial applications and fails to account for the diversity of mechanisms responsible for the diffusion of academic activities. This paper aims to complete the existing understanding of the contribution made by universities to the corporate innovation process by recognising the impact of university demand on the innovative performance of firms in the scientific value chain. We study the impact of a large French public university on the innovative performance of its suppliers of scientific equipment. We perform micro-econometric analyses in a quasi-experimental setting, showing that university suppliers have a higher propensity to introduce new-to-the-market product innovations than do other firms belonging to the same sectors and with similar characteristics. Our results provide support to the conjecture that innovations and technological changes are the result not only of scientific and technical discoveries, but also of a complex chain reaction triggered by the interplay between specific demands and solutions designed to overcome technology bottlenecks. Show less
In order for citation based indicators to be comparable across fields, they need to normalise for two main areas of difference among fields. The first is size differences which include factors such... Show moreIn order for citation based indicators to be comparable across fields, they need to normalise for two main areas of difference among fields. The first is size differences which include factors such as number of publications and number of references per publication. The second is the time it takes for publications in a field to mature. The first area has been dealt with extensively on a publication level, while the second area has been addressed primarily on the level of fields or journals. Here we investigate the impact maturity time of different fields at the publication level and present a new way of determining an optimal, field specific citation time window. Our work also presents a way to identify 'Sleeping Beauties' and 'Genial Work'. Show less
Open Science is currently high on the agenda of science policy officials, funding agencies and scholarly activities. Yet, it is still unclear, how the concept of open science is integrating... Show moreOpen Science is currently high on the agenda of science policy officials, funding agencies and scholarly activities. Yet, it is still unclear, how the concept of open science is integrating scholarly debates and as to whether it has established structures similar to other scientific fields or debates. Against this backdrop, we have attempted to study the scholarly discourse of Open Science by using bibliometric and network analysis tools. Our goal was to determine how the open science discourse has evolved over time, how it is structured and how the different associated terms relate to other. In order to evaluate as to whether Open Science has evolved into an established scientific topic, we have attempted to compare OS with another concept which propagates openness in innovation and research, that is, Open Innovation. We found that Open Science and Open Innovation are rising topics within the scholarly discourse. Yet, we have also found that the Open Science keyword network is only sparsely connected internally and the different realms in the Open Science keyword network, such as Open Access, Open Data or Data Sharing are only scarcely connected to each other. Furthermore, we could show that Open Science has so far not developed strong ties to other scholarly debates. We contend that more qualitative and quantitative research is needed in order to understand the scholarly debate of Open Science. Show less
We address the question of whether altmetrics data can provide both convergent and discriminant validity for assessing societal impact. Using data from the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF)... Show moreWe address the question of whether altmetrics data can provide both convergent and discriminant validity for assessing societal impact. Using data from the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF) and the company Altmetric, we investigate whether or not societal impact can be indexed by using altmetrics. Our results reveal that paper mentions on Facebook, in blogs, in news, in Wikipedia and in policy-related documents are indeed convergently and discriminantly valid, i.e. is valid as a discriminant indicator. The results for Twitter reveal that the source does not seem to be valid for societal impact assessment. Show less
In developing countries, researchers with strong international links potentially act as a double-edge sword. On the one hand, local researchers with international links could strengthen the... Show moreIn developing countries, researchers with strong international links potentially act as a double-edge sword. On the one hand, local researchers with international links could strengthen the research base of an institution or country while, on the other hand, they could leave the research base vulnerable should they migrate. The study identified internationally linked authors in Uganda, East Africa, by applying individual-level bibliometrics to a dataset of 3,948 Ugandan authors from the Web of Science, for the period 2011–2015. The focus was on four overlapping groups of internationally linked authors: (1) Ugandan authors with an international co-author, (2) Uganda authors with a joint international affiliation, (3) Ugandan authors affiliated with an international organisation that has a local address, and (4) Ugandan authors affiliated with an international research partnership. The study showed that without the identified forms of international linkages, the Ugandan scholarly workforce would reduce to 14% of its current size. Moreover, 74% of Ugandan authors without any international links had co-authored articles with Ugandan authors who are linked internationally. Although the extent of both international and national mobility associated with internationally linked authors seem low, benchmarking against comparative figures for other countries in sub-Saharan Africa is required. Show less
