IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/scient/v93y2012i3d10.1007_s11192-012-0748-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Papers written by Nobel Prize winners in physics before they won the prize: an analysis of their language and journal of publication

Author

Listed:
  • Caifeng Ma

    (Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China)

  • Cheng Su

    (Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China)

  • Junpeng Yuan

    (Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China)

  • Yishan Wu

    (Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China)

Abstract

In this paper, we analyzed data relating to the language of papers written by winners of Nobel Prizes in physics before they won the prize and their journals of publication, and we identified the change in scientific language corresponding with shifts of the center of the scientific world. Using the science citation index as the main data source, we also collected information on the distribution of prize-winning scientists by country, by each scientist’s number of published papers, and by language. We then analyzed their papers in terms of the different journals based in different countries. The results are presented in three parts: (1) the main languages used in the papers are English and German. The proportion of papers in English is gradually increasing, while that of papers in German is decreasing. (2) The prize winning scientists’ papers have been published mainly in journals in their own nation and in the United States. (3) Journals based in their own countries are very helpful to these scientists early in their careers.

Suggested Citation

  • Caifeng Ma & Cheng Su & Junpeng Yuan & Yishan Wu, 2012. "Papers written by Nobel Prize winners in physics before they won the prize: an analysis of their language and journal of publication," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 93(3), pages 1151-1163, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:93:y:2012:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-012-0748-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-012-0748-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-012-0748-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11192-012-0748-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tibor Braun & Zsuzsa Szabadi-Peresztegi & Éva Kovács-Németh, 2003. "No-bells for ambiguous lists of ranked Nobelists as science indicators of national merit in physics, chemistry and medicine, 1901-2001," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 56(1), pages 3-28, January.
    2. Romualdas Karazija & Alina Momkauskaitė, 2004. "The Nobel prize in physics - regularities and tendencies," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 61(2), pages 191-205, October.
    3. Baffes, John & Vamvakidis, Athanasios, 2011. "Are you too young for the Nobel Prize?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(10), pages 1345-1353.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhiwei Zhou & Rui Xing & Jing Liu & Feiyue Xing, 2014. "Landmark papers written by the Nobelists in physics from 1901 to 2012: a bibliometric analysis of their citations and journals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 100(2), pages 329-338, August.
    2. Julián D. Cortés & Daniel A. Andrade, 2022. "Winners and runners-up alike?—a comparison between awardees and special mention recipients of the most reputable science award in Colombia via a composite citation indicator," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-14, December.
    3. Jingda Ding & Yifan Chen & Chao Liu, 2023. "Exploring the research features of Nobel laureates in Physics based on the semantic similarity measurement," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(9), pages 5247-5275, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. R. Bjørk, 2020. "The journals in physics that publish Nobel Prize research," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 122(2), pages 817-823, February.
    2. Polemis, Michael & Stengos, Thanasis, 2021. "Sweden is calling: What shapes the delay in the Nobel Prize discoveries? A research note," MPRA Paper 106083, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. R. Bjørk, 2019. "The age at which Noble Prize research is conducted," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 119(2), pages 931-939, May.
    4. Michael L. Polemis & Thanasis Stengos, 2022. "What shapes the delay in the Nobel Prize discoveries? A research note," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(2), pages 803-811, February.
    5. Ho Fai Chan & Ali Sina Önder & Benno Torgler, 2015. "Do Nobel laureates change their patterns of collaboration following prize reception?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 105(3), pages 2215-2235, December.
    6. Yves Gingras & Matthew L. Wallace, 2010. "Why it has become more difficult to predict Nobel Prize winners: a bibliometric analysis of nominees and winners of the chemistry and physics prizes (1901–2007)," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 82(2), pages 401-412, February.
    7. Jelnov, Pavel & Weiss, Yoram, 2022. "Influence in economics and aging," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    8. Bar-Ilan, Judit, 2008. "Informetrics at the beginning of the 21st century—A review," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 1-52.
    9. Betancourt, Nathan & Jochem, Torsten & Otner, Sarah M.G., 2023. "Standing on the shoulders of giants: How star scientists influence their coauthors," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(1).
    10. Romualdas Karazija & Alina Momkauskaitė, 2004. "The Nobel prize in physics - regularities and tendencies," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 61(2), pages 191-205, October.
    11. Robert D. Shelton & Geoffrey M. Holdridge, 2004. "The US-EU race for leadership of science and technology: Qualitative and quantitative indicators," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 60(3), pages 353-363, August.
    12. Robert Tomaszewski, 2017. "Citations to chemical resources in scholarly articles: CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics and The Merck Index," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 112(3), pages 1865-1879, September.
    13. Pandelis Mitsis, 2022. "The Nobel Prize time gap," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-11, December.
    14. Tibor Braun & Zsuzsa Szabadi-Peresztegi & Éva Kovács-Németh, 2003. "About Abels and similar international awards for ranked lists of awardees as science indicators of national merit in mathematics," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 56(2), pages 161-168, February.
    15. Wen Lou & Jiangen He & Lingxin Zhang & Zhijie Zhu & Yongjun Zhu, 2023. "Support behind the scenes: the relationship between acknowledgement, coauthor, and citation in Nobel articles," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(10), pages 5767-5790, October.
    16. Ho Fai Chan & Franklin G. Mixon & Jayanta Sarkar & Benno Torgler, 2022. "Recognition and longevity: an examination of award timing and lifespan in Nobel laureates," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(6), pages 3629-3659, June.
    17. Chung-Souk Han & Su Kyung Lee & Mark England, 2010. "Transition to postmodern science—related scientometric data," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 84(2), pages 391-401, August.
    18. Hajime Eto, 2008. "Scientometric definition of science: In what respect is the humanities more scientific than mathematical and social sciences?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 76(1), pages 23-42, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:93:y:2012:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-012-0748-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.