Antonio González-Molina

Coverage analysis of Scopus: A journal metric approach

Our aim is to compare the coverage of the Scopus database with that of Ulrich, to determine just how homogenous it is in the academic world. The variables taken into account were subject distribution, geographical distribution, distribution by publishers and the language of publication. The analysis of the coverage of a product of this nature should be done in relation to an accepted model, the optimal choice being Ulrich’s Directory, considered the international point of reference for the most comprehensive information on journals published throughout the world. The results described here allow us to draw a profile of Scopus in terms of its coverage by areas — geographic and thematic — and the significance of peer-review in its publications. Both these aspects are highly pragmatic considerations for information retrieval, the evaluation of research, and the design of policies for the use of scientific databases in scientific promotion.

New approach to the visualization of international scientific collaboration

In this study, visual representations are created in order to analyze different aspects of scientific collaboration at the international level. The main objective is to identify the international facet of research by following the flow of knowledge as expressed by the number of scientific publications, and then establishes the main geographical axes of output, showing the interrelationships of the domain, the intensity of these relations, and how the different types of collaboration are reflected in terms of visibility. Thus, the methodology has a twofold application, allowing us to detect significant differences that help characterize patterns of behaviour of a geographical system of output, along with the generation of representations that serve as interfaces for domain analysis and information retrieval.

Showing the essential science structure of a scientific domain and its evolution

Category cocitation and its representation through social networks is proving to be a very adequate technique for the visualization and analysis of great scientific domains. Its combination with pathfinder networks using pruning values r = ∞ and q=n–1 makes manifest the essence of research in the domain represented, or what we might call the ‘most salient structure’. The possible loss of structural information, caused by aggressive pruning in peripheral areas of the networks, is overcome by creating heliocentric maps for each category. The depictions obtained with this procedure become tools of great usefulness in view of their capacity to reveal the evolution of a given scientific domain over time, to show differences and similarities between different domains, and to suggest possible new lines for development. This article presents the scientogram of the United States for the year 2002, identifying its essential structure. We also show the scientograms of China for the years 1990 and 2002, in order to study its particular national evolution. Finally, we try to detect patterns and tendencies in the three scientograms that would allow one to predict or flag the evolution of a scientific domain.

Principales indicadores bibliométricos de la actividad científica chilena 2010. Informe 2012.

Moya-Anegon, F. (dir.), Bustos-Gonzalez, A. (coord.), Chinchilla-Rodriguez, Z., Corera-Alvarez, E., Gonzalez-Molina, A., Vargas-Quesada, B. Principales Indicadores Bibliometricos de la Actividad Cientifica Chilena 2011. Informe 2013. Santiago de Chile: Conicyt. Ministerio de Educacion, 2013