Bibliometric Analysis: The Main Steps
Definition
:1. Introduction or History
2. How to Conduct a Bibliometric Analysis
The Main Steps for Bibliometric Analysis
3. Understanding Bibliometric Methodology
Comparison with Other Review Methods
4. Main Methodologies and Explanations
4.1. Performance Analysis
4.2. Science Map**
4.3. Limitations of Bibliometric Analysis
5. Key Questions for Performing Bibliometric Analysis
6. Conclusions
Funding
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Step | Description | Tools/Software | Expected Outcome |
---|---|---|---|
1. Define Research Objectives | Clearly outline the objectives of the bibliometric analysis. | N/A | Clear research questions and objectives. |
2. Literature Search and Data Collection | Collect relevant literature from Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases or collect raw data (e.g., from no database) and build your own database. | EndNote, Zotero, Mendeley | A comprehensive dataset of relevant publications. |
3. Data Cleaning and Preprocessing | Clean and preprocess the data to ensure accuracy (e.g., removing duplicates and correcting author names). | R, Python, Excel or LibreOffice | A refined and accurate dataset ready for analysis. |
4. Selection of Bibliometric Techniques | Choose appropriate bibliometric techniques based on research objectives (e.g., co-citation analysis, co-word analysis, bibliographic coupling). | VOSviewer, CiteSpace | Identification of suitable analysis techniques. |
5. Data Analysis | Conduct the analysis using chosen techniques. | R, Python, VOSviewer, CiteSpace | Insights and patterns in the literature. |
6. Visualization | Visualize the results to aid interpretation and presentation. | VOSviewer, CiteSpace, Bibliometrix | Graphs, maps, and other visual representations of data. |
7. Interpretation and Reporting | Interpret the results and prepare a report detailing the findings and their implications. | MS Word, LaTeX | A comprehensive report with insights and recommendations. |
Review Type | Goal | When to Use | When Not to Use | Scope | Dataset | Analysis |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bibliometric Analysis | Summarizes large amounts of data to show trends and structure. | Broad review and large datasets | Specific review and small, manageable datasets | Broad | Large | Quantitative and Qualitative |
Meta-analysis | Summarizes empirical evidence and uncovers new relationships. | Summarizing results and homogeneous studies | Heterogeneous studies and few quality studies | Broad or Specific | Large or Adequate | Quantitative only |
Systematic Literature Review | Summarizes and synthesizes existing literature findings. | Specific review and small, manageable datasets | Broad review and large datasets | Specific | Small | Qualitative only |
Publication-Related Metrics | Explanation |
---|---|
Total publications | The total number of publications produced by a researcher, institution, or country. |
Sole-authored publications | Publications written by a single author indicating individual research contributions. |
Co-authored publications | Publications written by multiple authors reflect collaborative research efforts. |
Number of active years of publication | The years during which a researcher or institution has been actively publishing. |
Productivity per active year of publication | The average number of publications produced per active year. |
Number of contributing authors | The total number of unique authors contributing to a body of work. |
Citation-related metrics | Explanation |
Total citations | The total number of citations from a researcher’s or institution’s publications. |
Average citations | The average number of citations per publication indicates the impact of the work. |
Citation-and-publication-related metrics | Explanation |
Citations per cited publication | The average number of citations per publication that has been cited. |
Number of cited publications | The total number of a researcher’s or institution’s publications that have been cited at least once. |
Proportion of cited publications | The proportion of publications that have received citations out of the total number of publications. |
Collaboration index | A measure of the extent and intensity of collaborative research efforts. |
Collaboration coefficient | A coefficient indicating the degree of collaboration in research. |
g-index | An index that considers both the number of publications and the number of citations per publication. |
h-index | An index that quantifies both the productivity and citation impact of a researcher’s publications. |
i-index i-10, i-100, i-200 | The number of publications with at least 10, 100, or 200 citations, respectively. |
Analyses | Explanations |
---|---|
Citation Analysis | Explanation |
Relationships among publications | Examines how publications are related through citations, showing how knowledge is built over time. |
Most influential publications | Identifies publications that have had the most significant impact on a field, as evidenced by citation counts. |
Co-citation analysis | Explanation |
Relationships among cited publications | Analyzes the frequency with which two documents are cited together, indicating their relatedness. |
Foundational themes | Identifies core themes and seminal works that form the basis of research in a particular field. |
Co-word analysis | Explanation |
Existing or future relationships among topics | Analyze the co-occurrence of keywords or terms within publications to identify relationships between topics. |
Written content words | Focuses on the content of publications to uncover trends and patterns in research topics. |
Bibliographic coupling | Explanation |
Relationships among citing publications | Examines how publications are linked by their references to the same documents, suggesting topical similarities. |
Periodical or present themes | Analyzes current and emerging themes in research based on shared references. |
Co-authorship analysis | Explanation |
Social interactions or relationships among authors | Studies the collaboration patterns among authors, highlighting social networks in research. |
Authors and author affiliations, institutions, countries | Analyze authors’ affiliations to understand the research collaboration’s geographic and institutional distribution. |
Step | Guidelines | Questions to Consider |
---|---|---|
1. Define Research Objectives | Clearly outline the objectives of the bibliometric analysis. | What specific research questions or problems am I aiming to address? What are the goals of this analysis? |
2. Literature Search and Data Collection | Collect relevant literature from reputable databases. | Which databases will I use for the search? How will I ensure a comprehensive and relevant dataset? |
3. Data Cleaning and Preprocessing | Ensure the accuracy and consistency of the data. | How will I handle duplicates and inconsistent author names? What criteria will I use to include or exclude publications? |
4. Selection of Bibliometric Techniques | Choose techniques that align with the research objectives. | Which bibliometric techniques are most suitable for my research questions? How do these techniques help me achieve my objectives? |
5. Data Analysis | Conduct the analysis using the selected techniques. | What software tools will I use for the analysis? How will I interpret the results? |
6. Visualization | Create visual representations of the data to aid interpretation. | What types of visualizations will best represent my data? How can these visualizations make my findings clearer and more impactful? |
7. Interpretation and Reporting | Interpret the findings and prepare a comprehensive report. | What do the results mean in the context of my research objectives? How can I effectively communicate my findings and their implications? |
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Passas, I. Bibliometric Analysis: The Main Steps. Encyclopedia 2024, 4, 1014-1025. https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia4020065
Passas I. Bibliometric Analysis: The Main Steps. Encyclopedia. 2024; 4(2):1014-1025. https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia4020065
Chicago/Turabian StylePassas, Ioannis. 2024. "Bibliometric Analysis: The Main Steps" Encyclopedia 4, no. 2: 1014-1025. https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia4020065