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Disciplinarity and interdisciplinarity in citation and reference dimensions: knowledge importation and exportation taxonomy of journals

Author

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  • Jorge Mañana Rodríguez

    (ÍLIA Research Group)

Abstract

This work proposes an entropy-based disciplinarity indicator (EBDI) which allows the classification of scientific journals in four classes: knowledge importer, knowledge exporter, disciplinary and interdisciplinary with regards to the discipline(s) in which they are classified. Assuming that the set references in the papers published in a journal represent a significant part of their knowledge basis, the diversity (measured with Shannon’s entropy) and ratio between internal and external (to the discipline in which the journal is classified) references can provide a measure of the disciplinarity/interdisciplinarity of the journal in the reference dimension. The homologous analysis can be applied to the set of citations received by the papers published in the journal. In this article, an entropy-based indicator for the measurement of the disciplinarity of scientific journals is developed, applied (to the cited and citing dimensions) and discussed. The indicator can take finite values and it is found to be theoretically consistent when tested against two definitions for bibliometric indicators. The combinations of disciplinarity values in the citing and cited dimensions permits the classification of journals according to their knowledge importing/exporting profile (separately, with regards to the social sciences or the sciences), providing a taxonomy of the role of journals according to their importing, exporting, interdisciplinary or specialized profile with regards to the subject category in which they are classified. The indicator, EBDI and the resulting taxonomy is proposed and tested for the set of journals in LIS subject category in JCR 2013 and for the sets of journals in Andrology and Legal Medicine in JCR 2015. Evidence of concurrent validity with journal co-classification patterns is found in the three sets of journals.

Suggested Citation

  • Jorge Mañana Rodríguez, 2017. "Disciplinarity and interdisciplinarity in citation and reference dimensions: knowledge importation and exportation taxonomy of journals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 110(2), pages 617-642, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:110:y:2017:i:2:d:10.1007_s11192-016-2190-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-016-2190-0
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Wu, Chaojiang & Yan, Erjia & Hill, Chelsey, 2017. "Disciplinary knowledge diffusion in business research," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 655-668.
    2. Guoliang Lyu & Ganwei Shi, 2019. "On an approach to boosting a journal’s citation potential," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 120(3), pages 1387-1409, September.
    3. Yu-Wei Chang, 2018. "Examining interdisciplinarity of library and information science (LIS) based on LIS articles contributed by non-LIS authors," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(3), pages 1589-1613, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Disciplinarity; Specialization; Journal taxonomy; Entropy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C80 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - General

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