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Rethinking the disruption index as a measure of scientific and technological advances

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  • Ruan, Xuanmin
  • Lyu, Dongqing
  • Gong, Kaile
  • Cheng, Ying
  • Li, Jiang

Abstract

Wu et al. (2019) used the disruption(D) index to measure scientific and technological advances in Nature. Their findings spurred extensive discussion in academia on whether we can measure the disruption (i.e., innovation or novelty) of a research paper or a patent based on the number of citations. In this paper, we calculate the D index of ∼0.76 million publications published between 1954 and 2013 in six disciplines including both sciences and social sciences in English and Chinese. We found that the number of references has a negative effect on the D index of a paper with a relatively small number of references, and a positive effect on the D index of a paper with a large number of references. We also found that low coverage of a citation database boosts D values. Specifically, low coverage of non-journal literature in the Web of Science (WOS) boosted D values in social sciences, and the exclusion of non-Chinese language literature in the Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index (CSSCI) resulted in the inflation of D values in Chinese language literature. Limitations of the D index observed in scientific papers also exist in technological patents. This paper sheds light on the use of citation-based measurements of scientific and technological advances and highlights the limitations of this index.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruan, Xuanmin & Lyu, Dongqing & Gong, Kaile & Cheng, Ying & Li, Jiang, 2021. "Rethinking the disruption index as a measure of scientific and technological advances," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:172:y:2021:i:c:s0040162521005035
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121071
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    8. Libo Sheng & Dongqing Lyu & Xuanmin Ruan & Hongquan Shen & Ying Cheng, 2023. "The association between prior knowledge and the disruption of an article," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(8), pages 4731-4751, August.
    9. Li, Xian & Du, Haixing & Bu, Yi & Ai, Mingshu & Huang, Junjie & Jia, Tao, 2025. "Innovation lineage structure: A graph structure in publications of scholars and its association with disruptiveness," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 19(4).
    10. Yuyan Jiang & Xueli Liu, 2023. "A construction and empirical research of the journal disruption index based on open citation data," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(7), pages 3935-3958, July.
    11. Tang, Kun & Li, Baiyang & Zhu, Qiyu & Ma, Lecun, 2024. "Disruptive content, cross agglomeration interaction, and agglomeration replacement: Does cohesion foster strength?," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 18(4).
    12. Huidong Wu & Jianping Li & Dengsheng Wu, 2026. "Authenticity or self-advocacy? Identifying the credibility of positive words in scientific titles and abstracts," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 131(1), pages 209-234, January.
    13. Yang, Alex Jie & Wu, Linwei & Zhang, Qi & Wang, Hao & Deng, Sanhong, 2023. "The k-step h-index in citation networks at the paper, author, and institution levels," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(4).
    14. Zhang, Ming-Ze & Wang, Tang-Rong & Lyu, Peng-Hui & Chen, Qi-Mei & Li, Ze-Xia & Ngai, Eric W.T., 2024. "Impact of gender composition of academic teams on disruptive output," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2).
    15. Hu, Zewen & Zhou, Xiji & Lin, Angela, 2023. "Evaluation and identification of potential high-value patents in the field of integrated circuits using a multidimensional patent indicators pre-screening strategy and machine learning approaches," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2).
    16. Ruijie Wang & Yuhao Zhou & An Zeng, 2023. "Evaluating scientists by citation and disruption of their representative works," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(3), pages 1689-1710, March.
    17. Yuyan Jiang & Xueli Liu, 2023. "A Bibliometric Analysis and Disruptive Innovation Evaluation for the Field of Energy Security," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-29, January.
    18. Ao, Weiyi & Lyu, Dongqing & Ruan, Xuanmin & Li, Jiang & Cheng, Ying, 2023. "Scientific creativity patterns in scholars’ academic careers: Evidence from PubMed," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(4).
    19. Petersen, Alexander Michael & Arroyave, Felber J. & Pammolli, Fabio, 2025. "The disruption index suffers from citation inflation: Re-analysis of temporal CD trend and relationship with team size reveal discrepancies," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1).
    20. Alex J. Yang & Hongcun Gong & Yuhao Wang & Chao Zhang & Sanhong Deng, 2024. "Rescaling the disruption index reveals the universality of disruption distributions in science," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(1), pages 561-580, January.
    21. He, Youwei & Lee, Jeong-Dong, 2025. "Small but not least changes: The art of creating disruptive innovations," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3).

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