IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/scient/v92y2012i3d10.1007_s11192-011-0609-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Authors’ sources of information: a new dimension in information scattering

Author

Listed:
  • Zahed Bigdeli

    (Shahid Chamran University)

  • Ali Gazni

    (Islamic World Science Citation Center (ISC)
    Shahid Chamran University)

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine the usage patterns of core journals by scholars, and to address the differences among various academic disciplines. Thus, the references of 11,230 corresponding authors for the past 35 years from the world’s top five highly cited universities and institutions were analyzed. To build robust models of information scattering, we need a deeper understanding of this phenomenon. The results show that core journals usage is a social phenomenon, in exactly the same way as Bradford’s law, Zipf’s law and Lotka’s law. The analysis of author references shows that if core scientific journals are arranged in order of decreasing productivity, then they could be divided into a small group of highly cited periodicals and a large group of minimally cited ones. Scholars may do browsing and similar information-seeking activities to form their core journals, and the findings may support Bates’s hypothesis that Bradford’s core zone is best searched by browsing. Bradford’s law and relevant research may consequently help to solve many of the practical problems that practitioners of the profession face, particularly in collection development in libraries, and help users to gather highly scattered information.

Suggested Citation

  • Zahed Bigdeli & Ali Gazni, 2012. "Authors’ sources of information: a new dimension in information scattering," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 92(3), pages 505-521, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:92:y:2012:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-011-0609-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-011-0609-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-011-0609-1
    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/s11192-011-0609-1?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. Herbertz, Heinrich & Muller-Hill, Benno, 1995. "Quality and efficiency of basic research in molecular biology: a bibliometric analysis of thirteen excellent research institutes," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 959-979, November.
    2. Sanna Talja & Pertti Vakkari & Jenny Fry & Paul Wouters, 2007. "Impact of research cultures on the use of digital library resources," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 58(11), pages 1674-1685, September.
    3. M. Carl Drott & Belver C. Griffith, 1978. "An empirical examination of Bradford's law and the scattering of scientific literature," Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 29(5), pages 238-246, September.
    4. J. Hubert, 1977. "Bibliometric models for journal productivity," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 441-473, January.
    5. B. C. Brookes, 1979. "The Bradford law: A new calculus for the social sciences?," Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 30(4), pages 233-234, July.
    6. R. Bailón-Moreno & E. Jurado-Alameda & R. Ruiz-Baños & J. P. Courtial, 2005. "Bibliometric laws: Empirical flaws of fit," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 63(2), pages 209-229, April.
    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. Zahed Bigdeli & Morteza Kokabi & Gholam Reza Rajabi & Ali Gazni, 2013. "Patterns of authors’ information scattering: towards a causal explanation of information scattering from a scholarly information-seeking behavior perspective," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 96(1), pages 103-131, July.

    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. Zahed Bigdeli & Morteza Kokabi & Gholam Reza Rajabi & Ali Gazni, 2013. "Patterns of authors’ information scattering: towards a causal explanation of information scattering from a scholarly information-seeking behavior perspective," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 96(1), pages 103-131, July.
    2. Henk F. Moed, 2000. "Bibliometric Indicators Reflect Publication and Management Strategies," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 47(2), pages 323-346, February.
    3. Ruth Zárate Rueda & Yolima Ivonne Beltrán Villamizar & Luis Eduardo Becerra Ardila, 2023. "A Retrospective Approach to Pro-Environmental Behavior from Environmental Education: An Alternative from Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-19, March.
    4. Omwoyo Bosire Onyancha & Dennis N. Ocholla, 2022. "Dispersion of ICT-related subject terms in information and knowledge management publications: A Bradford analysis," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-8, December.
    5. Carmen Galvez & Félix Moya-Anegón, 2007. "Standardizing formats of corporate source data," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 70(1), pages 3-26, January.
    6. Alber, Jens & Fliegner, Florian & Nerlich, Torben, 2009. "Charakteristika prämierter Forschung in der deutschsprachigen Sozialwissenschaft. Eine Analyse der mit dem Preis der Fritz Thyssen Stiftung ausgezeichneten sozialwissenschaftlichen Aufsätze 1981-2006," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Inequality and Social Integration SP I 2009-201, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    7. Yuh-Shan Ho, 2013. "The top-cited research works in the Science Citation Index Expanded," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 94(3), pages 1297-1312, March.
    8. Massimo Aria & Michelangelo Misuraca & Maria Spano, 2020. "Mapping the Evolution of Social Research and Data Science on 30 Years of Social Indicators Research," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 149(3), pages 803-831, June.
    9. Montecchi, Matteo & Plangger, Kirk & West, Douglas C., 2021. "Supply chain transparency: A bibliometric review and research agenda," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    10. José Álvarez-García & Amador Durán-Sánchez & Néstor Montalván-Burbano & María de la Cruz del Río-Rama, 2023. "Spanish Journal of Finance and Accounting (SJFA): Mapping of Knowledge over the Last 25 Years," Publications, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-19, February.
    11. Alfio Ferrara & Silvia Salini, 2012. "Ten challenges in modeling bibliographic data for bibliometric analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 93(3), pages 765-785, December.
    12. Tian, Yangge & Wen, Cheng & Hong, Song, 2008. "Global scientific production on GIS research by bibliometric analysis from 1997 to 2006," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 65-74.
    13. Julia Melkers & Fang Xiao, 2012. "Boundary-spanning in emerging technology research: determinants of funding success for academic scientists," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 251-270, June.
    14. Claudia Jazmín Galeano-Barrera & María Eugenia Arango Ospina & Edgar Mauricio Mendoza García & Dewar Rico-Bautista & Efrén Romero-Riaño, 2022. "Exploring the Evolution of the Topics and Research Fields of Territorial Development from a Comprehensive Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-31, May.
    15. Alain Molinari & Jean-Francois Molinari, 2008. "Mathematical aspects of a new criterion for ranking scientific institutions based on the h-index," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 75(2), pages 339-356, May.
    16. Rigby, J. & Edler, J., 2005. "Peering inside research networks: Some observations on the effect of the intensity of collaboration on the variability of research quality," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 784-794, August.
    17. Heinrich Behrens & Peter Luksch, 2011. "Mathematics 1868–2008: a bibliometric analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 86(1), pages 179-194, January.
    18. Fu, Hui-Zhen & Ho, Yuh-Shan, 2013. "Independent research of China in Science Citation Index Expanded during 1980–2011," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 210-222.
    19. Mengyang Wang & Lihe Chai, 2018. "Three new bibliometric indicators/approaches derived from keyword analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(2), pages 721-750, August.
    20. Vincenzo Basile & Massimiliano Giacalone & Paolo Carmelo Cozzucoli, 2022. "The Impacts of Bibliometrics Measurement in the Scientific Community A Statistical Analysis of Multiple Case Studies," Review of European Studies, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 14(3), pages 1-10, November.

    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:92:y:2012:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-011-0609-1. 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.