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Proper field delineation plays an important role in scientometric studies, although it is a tough task. Based on an emerging and interdisciplinary field nanoscience and nanotechnology– this paper highlights the problem of field delineation. First we review the related literature. Then, three different approaches to delineate a field of knowledge were applied at three different levels of aggregation: subject category, publication level, and journal level. Expert opinion interviews served to assess the data, and precision and recall of each approach were calculated for comparison. Our findings confirm that field delineation is a complicated issue at both the quantitative and the qualitative level, even when experts validate results., This study was funded by the Ph.D. International Mobility Programme of the University of Granada and by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain through the State Programme of Research, Development, and Innovation oriented to the Challenges of Society [NANOMETRICS, CSO2014-57770-R].

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to visualize the structure of SCImago Journal & Country Rank (SJR) coverage of the extensive citation network of Scopus journals, examining this bibliometric portal through an alternative approach, applying clustering and visualization techniques to a combination of citation-based links. Design/methodology/approach:Three SJR journal-journal networks containing direct citation, co-citation and bibliographic coupling links are built. The three networks were then combined into a new one by summing up their values, which were later normalized through geo-normalization measure. Finally, the VOS clustering algorithm was executed and the journal clusters obtained were labeled using original SJR category tags and significant words from journal titles. Findings: The resultant scientogram displays the SJR structure through a set of communities equivalent to SJR categories that represent the subject contents of the journals they cover. A higher level of aggregation by areas provides a broad view of the SJR structure, facilitating its analysis and visualization at the same time. Originality/value: This is the first study using Persson’s combination of most popular citation-based links (direct citation, co-citation and bibliographic coupling) in order to develop a scientogram based on Scopus journals from SJR. The integration of the three measures along with performance of the VOS community detection algorithm gave a balanced set of clusters. The resulting scientogram is useful for assessing and validating previous classifications as well as for information retrieval and domain analysis.

[EN] The aim of this study was to analyze the evolution of the quantity and visibility of Cuban scientific production in Public Health and Medicine to determine if they follow the same patterns of scientific communication and the recommended best practices for publication. Bibliometric indicators of quantity, visibility and cooperation were extracted from the SCImago Institutions Rankings website, which is based on Scopus data, in the field of Medicine and category of Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health from 2003 to 2011. Cuba has a relatively high position in the rankings of scientific production in both Medicine and Public Health within the international and regional contexts, but its impact is ranked among the last countries. The production trend of both fields has increased, but public health is increasing faster. Leadership is high, but international collaboration is below expectations. Publication in high impact journals (first quartile) and articles in the set 10% most cited documents (excellence) are scarce. Thus, it may be concluded that the volume and impact of publication are not in accordance with the scientific potential of Cuban health. We recommend increasing scientific cooperation, publishing articles in high impact journals, training human resources and following the international recommendations for good editorial and scientific publication practices., [ES] El objetivo de este trabajo fue analizar la evolución del volumen y la visibilidad de la producción científica cubana en Salud Pública y en Medicina para determinar si siguen los mismos patrones de comunicación, y recomendar buenas prácticas de publicación. Se aplicaron indicadores bibliométricos de volumen, visibilidad y colaboración extraídos del portal SCImago Institutions Rankings a partir de datos de Scopus, para el área temática Medicine y la categoría Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health, período 2003-2011. Cuba tiene una posición relativamente alta en los rankings de volumen de producción científica tanto en Medicina como en Salud Pública en los contextos internacionales y regionales, mientras que en impacto está entre los últimos países. La tendencia de la producción es al crecimiento, aunque en Salud Pública es más acelerado. El liderazgo es alto, pero la colaboración internacional está por debajo de lo esperado. La publicación en revistas de alto impacto (primer cuartil) y los artículos en el 10% más citado (excelencia) son escasos. Se concluye que el volumen y el impacto de la publicación no están acorde al potencial científico de salud cubana. Se recomienda incrementar la colaboración científica, la publicación de artículos en revistas de alto impacto, la preparación de los recursos humanos y seguir las recomendaciones internacionales sobre las buenas prácticas de edición y publicación científica.

Since the discovery of the promising properties of graphene, research in the field has attracted numerous grants and sponsors, leading to an exponential rise in the number of papers and applications. This article presents a global map of graphene research and its intellectual structure, drawn using the terms of more than 50,000 documents extracted from Scopus database, years 1998–2015. The unit of analysis consisted of descriptors (including Author Keywords and Indexed Keywords), with the co-occurrence of descriptor as the unit of measure, using fractional counting. The main research lines identified are: Fundamental Research, Functionalization and Biomedical Applications, Technology and Devices, Materials Science, Energy Storage, Optics and Chemical Properties and Sensors. Using overlay maps, we depict the graphene research efforts of the United States, the European Union (Europe-28), and China, and project their evolution through longitudinal maps to facilitate comparison. The United States was initially at the head of world output in graphene research but was surpassed by China in 2011 and by Europe in 2014, as a result of their respective scientific policies and financial support. The output of China has since been so intense that it can be said to mark graphene research trends. We believe this information may be valuable for the core community involved in this scientific field, as it offers a large-scale analysis showing how research has changed over time. It is therefore also helpful for policymakers and research planners. The resulting maps are a useful and attractive tool for the graphene research community, as they reveal the main lines of exploration at a glance. The methodology described here could be re-created in any other field of science to uncover and display its intellectual structure and evolution over time., Projects I + D + I, State Program of Research, Development, and Innovation oriented to the Challenges of the Society: NANOMETRICS (Ref. CSO2014-57770-R) Supported by Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain.

Chinchilla-Rodríguez, Z., Vargas-Quesada, B., Hassan-Montero, Y., González-Molina, A., Moya-Anegón, F. New approach to the visualization of international scientific collaboration. Information Visualization, 9 (4): 277-287, Winter 2010. DOI: 10.1057/ivs.2009.31, In this study, visual representations are created in order to analyze different aspects of scientific collaboration at the international level. The main objective is to identify the international facet of research by following the flow of knowledge as expressed by the number of scientific publications, and then establishes the main geographical axes of output, showing the interrelationships of the domain, the intensity of these relations, and how the different types of collaboration are reflected in terms of visibility. Thus, the methodology has a twofold application, allowing us to detect significant differences that help characterize patterns of behaviour of a geographical system of output, along with the generation of representations that serve as interfaces for domain analysis and information retrieval.

[ES] En este trabajo presentamos la estructura de la investigación científica española durante el período comprendido entre 1990 y 2005. Basándonos en la cocitación de categorías ISI, que comprenden las ciencias naturales, las ciencias sociales y el arte y las humanidades, y combinando el análisis de redes sociales (ARS) con algoritmos de poda como pathfindernetorks (Pfnet) y otros algoritmos de representación de la información como el de Kamada–Kawai, mostramos la estructura básica de la ciencia española a través de sus relaciones esenciales. El resultado son unos mapas bibliométricos con forma de neurona y con un gran axón central (cienciogramas) que ponen de manifiesto la macro–estructura, micro– estructura y columna vertebral de la investigación española, que permiten su análisis e interpretación., [EN] This article presents the structure of Spanish science from 1990 to 2005. Based on ISI subject–category co–citation, including natural sciences, social sciences and arts & humanities, and combining both social network analysis (SNA) and pruning algorithms such as pathfinder–networks (Pfnet) and other information layout algorithms like Kamada– Kawai’s, the basic structure of Spanish science is shown through its essential relations. The results are bibliometric– maps (scientograms) revealing the macrostructure, microstructure and the backbone of Spanish science and making possible its analysis and explanation.

[Background] In the greater framework of the essential functions of Public Health, our focus is on a systematic, objective, external evaluation of Latin American scientific output, to compare its publications in the area of Public Health with those of other major geographic zones. We aim to describe the regional distribution of output in Public Health, and the level of visibility and specialization, for Latin America; it can then be characterized and compared in the international context., [Methods] The primary source of information was the Scopus database, using the category “Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health”, in the period 1996–2011. Data were obtained through the portal of SCImago Journal and Country Rank. Using a set of qualitative (citation-based), quantitative (document recount) and collaborative (authors from more than one country) indicators, we derived complementary data. The methodology serves as an analytical tool for researchers and scientific policy-makers., [Results] The contribution of Latin America to the arsenal of world science lies more or less midway on the international scale in terms of its output and visibility. Revealed as its greatest strengths are the high level of specialization in Public Health and the sustained growth of output. The main limitations identified were a relative decrease in collaboration and low visibility., [Conclusions] Collaboration is a key factor behind the development of scientific activity in Latin America. Although this finding can be useful for formulating research policy in Latin American countries, it also underlines the need for further research into patterns of scientific communication in this region, to arrive at more specific recommendations., We acknowledge support of the publication fee by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).

Purpose – Research with stem cells is a biomedical venture with great scientific impact, and whose development flows over into many other areas. This article aims to present a dual analysis of Spain’s scientific output in this field during the period 1997-2007. Design/methodology/approach – The authors used bibliometric indicators of a basic nature as well as techniques for the visualization and analysis of networks of scientific information based on a study of KeyWords Plus. Findings – The output is mainly concentrated in Catalun˜a and Madrid, and hospitals are the most productive centres (followed by health institutes), where the main authors are affiliated. Main categories are hematology, oncology and biophysics. The outstanding areas of study revolve around the therapeutic use of transplant of hematopoietic progenitors, the processes of generation, proliferation and differentiation of lines of cells, and the study of neurosciences. Originality/value – This study provides an overview of Spanish research involving stem cells, detecting and representing the main areas of research. The article considers the potential of KeyWords Plus in combination with the proposed methodology as particularly useful for the analysis and delimitation of a scientific domain., This study was made possible by funding from the project CAM-UAH CCG07-UAH/HUM-1906.

Vargas-Quesada, B., Moya-Anegón, F., Chinchilla-Rodríguez, Z., González-Molina, A. Showing the essential science structure of a scientific domain and its evolution. Information Visualization, 9 (4): 288-300, Winter 2010. DOI: 10.1057/ivs.2009.33, Category co-citation and its representation through social networks is proving to be a very adequate technique for the visualization and analysis of great scientific domains. Its combination with pathfinder networks using pruning values r=∞and q=n−1 makes manifest the essence of research in the domain represented, or what we might call the `most salient structure'. The possible loss of structural information, caused by aggressive pruning in peripheral areas of the networks, is overcome by creating heliocentric maps for each category. The depictions obtained with this procedure become tools of great usefulness in view of their capacity to reveal the evolution of a given scientific domain over time, to show differences and similarities between different domains, and to suggest possible new lines for development. This article presents the scientogram of the United States for the year 2002, identifying its essential structure. We also show the scientograms of China for the years 1990 and 2002, in order to study its particular national evolution. Finally, we try to detect patterns and tendencies in the three scientograms that would allow one to predict or flag the evolution of a scientific domain.

Perianes-Rodríguez, A., Chinchilla-Rodríguez, Z., Vargas-Quesada, B., Olmeda-Gómez, C., Moya-Anegón, F. Synthetic hybrid indicators based on scientific collaboration to quantify and evaluate individual research results. Journal of Informetrics, 3 (2): 91-101, April 2009. ISSN: 1751-1577 DOI: 10.1016/j.joi.2008.12.001, Governmental initiatives around scientific policy have progressively raised collaboration to priority status. In this context, a need has arisen to broaden the traditional approach to the analysis and study of research results by descending to the group or even the individual scale and supplementing the output-, productivity-, visibility- and impact-based focus with new measures that emphasize collaboration from the vantage of structural analysis. To this end, the present paper proposes new hybrid indicators for the analysis and evaluation of individual research results, popularity and prestige, that combine bibliometric and structural aspects. A case study was conducted of the nine most productive departments in Carlos III University of Madrid. The findings showed hybridization to be a tool sensitive to traditional indicators, but also to the new demands of modern science as a self-organized system of interaction among individuals, furnishing information on researchers’ environments and the behavior and attitudes adopted within those environments.

Our objective is the generation of schematic visualizations as interfaces for scientific domain analysis. We propose a new technique that uses thematic classification (classes and categories) as entities of cocitation and units of measure, and demonstrate the viability of this methodology through the representation and analysis of a domain of great dimensions. The main features of the maps obtained are discussed, and proposals are made for future improvements and applications, Plan Nacional de I+D+i 2004-2007 “Atlas de la Ciencia Española” (SEJ2004-08358-C02-01/SOCI) subvencionado por el Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia. 2004.