Abstract

The possibility of constructing science maps based on co-use of scientific literature by academic users is explored. We define co-use as the co-occurrence of scientific information requests by pairs of users recorded in platforms of scientific journals. We used search data from the University of Navarre to the ScienceDirect platform in 2012 in order to test the validity and to analyze the possibilities of this methodological approach. We conclude by emphasizing the viability of this methodology when exploring the research interests of an academic institution along with the relations among different disciplines.

Abstract

A graphical interface designed to access the bibliometric indicators database of the SCImago Journal & Country Rank portal (http://scimagojr.com/shapeofscience) is described. The map was generated from the relational matrix based on the citation, co-citation, and bibliographic coupling formed by the nearly 20,000 publications (journals and conference proceedings) registered in Scopus. The map layout is based on a variant of a force-directed algorithm using Noack’s proposal of an edge-repulsion energy model. The interface allows the publications’ bibliometric indicators and the cluster structures that they form to be displayed based on their shared use by the authors of the documents. To facilitate navigation, the interface automatically positions the reference areas and subject categories which are viewable via zoom-and-pan. The interface may be found to constitute a useful tool for analyses of the Scopus publications’ presence in different scientific domains, and of the global distribution of the publishing capacity of different countries and regions. It uses the method of overlaying maps to locate subsets of selected publications in the context of the global publication structure.

Abstract

A graphical interface designed to access the bibliometric indicators database of the SCImago Journal & Country Rank portal(http://scimagojr.com/shapeofscience) is described. The map was generated from the relational matrix based on the citation, co-citation, and bibliographic coupling formed by the nearly 20,000 publications (journals and conference proceedings) registered inScopus. The map layout is based on a variant of a force-directed algorithm using Noack’s proposal of an edge-repulsion energy model. The interface allows the publications’ bibliometric indicators and the cluster structures that they form to be displayed based on their shared use by the authors of the documents. To facilitate navigation, the interface automatically positions the reference areas and subject categories which are viewable via zoom-and-pan. The interface may be found to constitute a useful tool for analyses of theScopus publications’ presence in different scientific domains, and of the global distribution of the publishing capacity of different countries and regions. It uses the method of overlaying maps to locate subsets of selected publications in the context of the global publication structure.

Abstract

This work presents a current map of scientific research on Communication in Spain, identifying both the research fronts of the publications with the greatest impact over the last three years (2019–2021) and the authors who led such work and their universities of reference. The original methodology applied herein focuses on an analysis of the cited authors. After a careful selection process, we work with a corpus of more than 800 articles, using Scopus and the VOSviewer software to generate a co-referencing map and throw light on the structure of the Communication field. On the basis of that analysis, we identify nine thematic clusters, with a particular grouping structure, leading authors, and relationships around fields of study such as communication, democracy and power, audiences and media consumption, the media industry, journalistic practice, fact checking and disinformation, journalistic innovation, and SEO journalism. The ranking of cited authors, where Ramón Salaverría and Rasmus K. Nielsen hold equal first position and the Chilean Claudia Mellado is the only woman at the head of a strong group, is put into context by analyzing their scientific production and the normalized impact in Communication of their institutions. The comparative analysis reveals the elite Spanish authors in Communication (Xosé López-García, Ignacio Aguaded, Andreu Casero-Ripollés, Lluís Codina, and Ramón Salaverría) and shows how universities in Madrid maintain their importance in terms of production but that those in Catalunya have the lead in terms of impact. The research is completed with a map of keyword co-occurrence that confirms the barrage of studies around the Covid crisis and the parallel and growing number of hoaxes (fakes). The research confirms the relevance of and opportunity to apply scientometric techniques to the Communication field.