Sybille Hinze

Bibliographical cartography of an emerging interdisciplinary discipline: The case of bioelectronics

A bibliometric analysis in the emerging field of bioelectronics, characterised by a high degree of interdisciplinarity, is carried out. Two different techniques — co-classification and co-word analysis — have been used and their results have been compared. The limitations and potentials of these techniques, especially concerning their use for analysing interdisciplinary scientific fields, are discussed. It is found that these techniques enable analyses gaining a first insight into the coarse structure of the field. The advantage of the techniques is their relative simplicity, and the possibility to carry out trend analyses based on relatively constant classifications of research activities, so that maps of different time periods become comparable and changes within the structure of the field become visible.

Opening the Black Box

The paper presents methodological approaches to statistical patent analyses. The references to timescales, countries of origin, and patent offices largely determine the outcome of such analyses; in particular, for country comparisons. For instance, considerable differences appear if results are compared based on priority, application, or grant years. For interpreting the patent figures at specific offices it proves important to consider the geostrategic position of the office. Advanced approaches such as the triad concept lead to more balanced results, but their assessment has to include a consideration of international patent flows. For quality indicators it has to be taken into account that patents are always two-dimensional and have technical and economic aspects. In principle early quality indicators primarily cover the technological content. A further issue is the definition of samples aiming at a large number of suitable documents which is sometimes contradictory to the target of completeness.

International orientation, efficiency of and regard for research in East and West Germany: A bibliometric investigation of aspects of technology genesis in the United Germany

The efficiency of areas of science was evaluated using the DEA method. Areas achieving a maximum orientation or regard of international publication are rated as efficient. The areas of reproductive medicine, organic and inorganic chemistry in the former Federal Republic can thus be regarded as efficient areas of science. No area of scientific research in the former East Germany was able to achieve the optimum. The determinant in this connection is the adverse situation with respect to international orientation whilst no substantial difference in regard for further research could be detected between East and West German research.

Mapping of R&D structures in transdisciplinary areas : New biotechnology in food sciences

This study analyses activities in new biotechnology in food science and technology using bibliometric methods. Multidimensional scaling is used to visualise the structure of the field as represented by scientific literature and patent applications. For the science as well for the technology side increasing activities in the field were found. The specialisation analysis shows above average specialisation at the science and the technology side of the EU member countries (except for Germany) as well as for the USA. Within the EU also less developed countries intensified their R&D activities. At the science side aspects of food safety and quality are highly relevant. These topics are also tackled at the technology side but, compared to the science side these sub-fields seem to be still more isolated within the structure of the field. Structural differences between the science and the technology side partly may be explained by special features of the patent law in biotechnology.

Applied research and industrial development in East Germany: International comparison by performance indicators

The ‘spotlight’ trained in this inquiry on East German R&D consists of four differently ‘coloured’ and differently directed ‘light beams’: • invention activities originating from East German domiciles or company registered offices are analysed insofar as they were duplicated by a patent application abroad in West Europe, indicative of the portion of East German technology important for export; • likewise. East German patents awarded at the US Patent Office were examined in order to identify a non-obvious overseas market for the traditional business dealings of East German combines, thereby obtaining a strong selection of the economically most important East German technology; • East German science dependence is identified by a new quantitative method. The indicator deduced therefrom for science involvement points to the relative proximity of industrial technology to scientific research; • R&D activity in the field of telecommunications was investigated as part of a case study of selected technical work areas in East Germany. The stitutional and regional structures of East Germany in telecommunications are discussed both in regard to time trends and also at the micro-level. The conclusions yielded by this selective approach for the current transitional situation in East German Federal States (Lander) are deduced as carefully as possible; they cannot, in all conscience, be substantiated, as this would fall outside the terms of reference of this hastily conducted inquiry.

Ein Rückblick auf Wissenschaft und Technik in der ehemaligen DDR: Ostdeutschlands Forschungs- und Entwicklungspotential

Der folgende Beitrag geht zuruck auf zwei separate Studien des ISI. In ihnen wurde mit Hilfe unterschiedlicher Wissenschafts- bzw. Technikindikatoren (auf der Basis der Patent-bzw. der Literaturstatistik) die Situation der angewandten Forschung und industriellen Entwicklung und der wissenschaftlichen Forschung der ehemaligen DDR im internationalen Vergleich, insbesondere unter Berucksichtigung der Entwicklung in der damaligen Bundesrepublik, betrachtet (vgl. Hinze/Grupp 1992; Grupp/Hinze 1992). Diese Arbeiten sind eingebunden in die vielfaltigen Aktivitaten zur Evaluation der Leistungsfahigkeit der bisherigen DDR-Wissenschaft und Technik.

esss 2010: A review of the inaugurational European Summer School for Scientometrics in Berlin

The first esss (European Summer School for Scientometrics) took place at the Humboldt University in Berlin from 16 to 18 June 2010. The event was jointly organised by the University of Vienna (Austria), the Humboldt University (Germany), the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium) and the iFQ (Institute for Research Information and Quality Assurance, Germany). esss was launched as a response to the increasing demand for scientometric expertise in the field of bibliometric methodology and its applications, on the one hand, and to the insufficient educational opportunities on bibliometric techniques, on the other hand. The esss 2010 ‘‘pilot’’ started ‘‘small, but beautiful’’ and gave a premium foretaste of what to expect in the future. The opening day (16 June) was dedicated to keynotes and lectures delivered by the organisers and invited international experts in this field. Wolfgang Glanzel (KU Leuven, Belgium) set the stage for the morning keynotes and provided a synopsis of the development of bibliometrics, followed by Anthony van Raan (Leiden University, the Netherlands) who shared his vast expertise on advanced bibliometric indicators for research evaluation. Andras Schubert (ISSRU Budapest, Hungary) then introduced the audience to the analysis of scientific networks, and Koenraad Debackere (KU Leuven, Belgium) finally presented concepts and tools driving innovation policy. In the afternoon Wolfgang Glanzel first talked about bibliometric initiatives and the institutionalisation of the field in Europe. Henk Moed (Elsevier, the Netherlands) continued

Defining regional research priorities: a new approach

This paper outlines a new approach to defining research priorities at a regional level. The methodical approach relies on a combination of bibliometric indicators and qualitative data and aims at the identification, selection and evaluation of medium-term relevant research fields. This type of analysis of quantitative and qualitative data contributes to what is called evidence-based policy making. By linking bibliometric information with questionnaire-based assessments by more than 480 scientists in the federal state of Baden-Wurttemberg (Germany), strategic research fields were pre-selected for potential policy action. Overall, the study shows that strategic decisions for shaping and advancing research processes demand not only methodical proficiency in bibliometrics but also a broad knowledge of the structure of the research landscape and forward thinking on a broad canvas. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

European Summer School for Scientometrics (ESSS) to be launched

Scientometric methods are increasingly used to analyse developments and trends in science and technology. Decisions to be taken in science policy and research management often have severe implications. Consequently data handling, indicator construction and interpretation require competent expert knowledge, which is currently only available to a limited extent for all stakeholders in Central Europe not the least due to lacking training opportunities. Responding to the lack of a pertinent scientometrics education (especially in German speaking countries) and to the increasing demand, the University of Vienna (Austria), the Humboldt University of Berlin (Germany), the Institute for Research Information and Quality Assurance (iFQ, Germany) and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium) have joined forces. They agreed upon jointly launching the European Summer School for Scientometrics (ESSS) this year. ESSS will take place alternately in Berlin, Vienna and Leuven. ESSS will offer training covering major aspects of quantitative science and technology studies. The main emphasis will be on scientometrics methods however, relevant aspects of patent analysis will be covered as well. The sound theoretical education will be combined with practical exercises in order to give participants the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the most commonly used databases, to learn how to construct relevant indicators and how to interpret the outcomes. ESSS courses provided are especially designed to cater for the needs of science policy makers, research quality managers, scientists, information specialists and librarians. ESSS is open to interested parties from all over Europe and beyond.

Special issue: papers from the 20th International Conference on Science and Technology Indicators

The 20th International Conference on Science and Technology Indicators (STI) took place from September 2nd to 4th, 2015 at the Università della Svizzera italiana in Lugano. The conference series, originally hosted in 1988 by CWTS, University of Leiden, became an annual event in 2010 under the auspices of the European Network of Indicator Designers (ENID; www.enid-europe.org), thus broadening its scope to different areas of the development and use of STI indicators, including policy analysis and evaluation, studies of research funding and governance, and indicators for the study of higher education systems and institutions. With the attendance of roughly 140 participants from 35 different countries, the breadth and the reach of the conference series was on full display. While dealing with the development of Science and Technology Indicators, each STI conference focuses on a specific topic or approach in order to provide new directions and impulses to the community in the field. In Lugano, the conference particularly discussed the development and use of S&T indicators to characterize and understand the behaviour of research organizations, including Higher Education Institutions, Public Research Organizations (PROs) and Research Funding Organizations. And thus, it reflected a longstanding process of development of indicators to characterize the profile and the position of organizations in the broader field of science and technology, the so-called positioning indicators (Lepori et al. 2008). Large initiatives in this direction include the development of databases on higher education institutions, the use of bibliometric indicators for the creation of ratings and rankings of institutional research performance, new developments to measure and assess academic patenting, the development of datasets covering different aspects of