ALBERT

Notes: Abstract Using the field of acid rain research as a case study, it was found that scientists who contribute to the popular literature are more likely than others to be called on to give Congressional testimony (and vice versa) and that the work of these same scientists is well recognized by their peers as judged by rates of citation. Indeed, scientists who contribute to the popular literature are more highly cited than those who do not whether or not they are called upon for expert testimony. Since those who give testimony are more highly cited than those who do not, some evidence also exists that scientists called before Congressional hearings are among those most influential in the science community.

Notes: Abstract The standard of research at different departments of the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Kossuth Lajos University has been assessed by a scientometric evaluation of the publication activities of the departments. The essence of our approach is the consideration of the number and quality of the papers published. For a measure of this quality we regarded the impact factor of the journal, in which a paper was published. The rather different range of the impact factors of different fields were taken into account during the evaluation. As a whole, no considerable difference was found between the publication activity (impact per number of researchers) of the research institutes of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the corresponding departments of our Faculty, although, significant differences occur in certain fields. Based on this study, changes in the publication strategies of the different departments were recommended.

Notes: Abstract There has been considerable interest in studying how the research output of a group of N researchers depends on the group-size, N. Several workers have studied this, but with conflicting conclusions, ranging from finding constant per-capita output to per-capita output varying linearly as N, and even exponentially with N. The present communication states afresh the author's earlier theory of productive interactions and gives analyses of the outputs of two prolific research groups: one from Dhaka University, Bangladesh, and one from Karachi University, Pakistan, each over nearly two decades. The data, obtained from published bibliographies, are sub-divided into small successive ranges of lab. group size, 1–2, 3–4, 5–6, etc., and analyzed by calculating the relevant publication-rate per person (R) for each range. Plots of the data from each group show evidence of an initial approx, linear rise of per-capita publication rate, R, up to about N=5, followed by a maximum at group-size of 6 to 8 persons. This group size would correspond to the optimum efficiency, as a balance between the benefits of increasing interaction (α N2) and Parkinsonian loss of efficiency. This is in agreement with the first peak in the author's earlier analysis (of recent U.K. and U.S.A. data) published five years ago inScientometrics, as well as his previous work published elsewhere. Possible reasons for the failure of statistical criteria to show up this phenomenon of increasing per-capita output are indicated and further indepth studies on two University research groups are planned.

Notes: Abstract Letters to the editor published in theLancet during the first half of 1980 were less cited than the corresponding papers. The average number of citations per letter was larger if the letter contained some substantive information. The longer the letter the more frequently it was cited. Letters that react to some previous publication tend to be shorter than “spontaneous” letters. “Reacting” letters tend to be less cited than spontaneous letters if they are short, more cited if they are longer. Letters with substantive information tend to originate outside the UK in which case they are also more cited.

Notes: Abstract A bibliometric online technique is applied on data from the INSPEC bibliographic file to describe some aspects of Moravcsik's publication activity (co-authorship, source journals, etc.). Separately, a co-occurrence method is used to represent the subject structure (the main topics and their links) of his papers in physics. The principle underlying this method is to develop a network based on common appearances of classification subdivisions (headings) as well as of controlled terms in Moravcsik's document records. The results, in the form of line and point graphs, give a global picture of Mike Moravcsik's research profile in physics.

Notes: Abstract In 1987, an analysis of the CHI/NSFScience Literature Indicators Data-Base by the author and his colleagues suggested that the UK's percentage share of the world publication and citation totals had continued to fall over 1981–84, although at a slower rate than previously. That finding has recently been challenged byBraun, Glänzel andSchubert who, by combining 28 publication-based indicators, concluded that there was no statistically significant evidence for such a decline. This paper examines the reasons for the discrepancy. It is argued that the methodology ofBraun et al. is seriously flawed, as well as being inconsistent with work that they have published elsewhere. By adopting a more consistent and realistic set of indicators and applying them to the data ofBraun et al., one arrives at results entirely consistent with those derived from the CHI/NSF data-base.

Notes: Abstract In this paper we discuss geometrical properties of ‘information space’ as represented by the phenomenon of co-citation clustering. More specifically, the size distribution of co-citation clusters is studied and interpreted in terms of fractal dimensions.

Notes: Abstract Citation counts often are used to measure scientific accomplishment. It is very difficult, however, to compute accurate citation counts in research where one has a list of scientists but not their complete bibliographies. At the same time, procedures are available that permit informed judgments about whether given scientists were cited at all in given years. The possibility of such judgments suggested that the number of years in which scientists were cited might be used as an alternative measure of scientific accomplishment. This possibility was explored in two studies, one based on 2,713 population scientists and the other on 135 articles published in the journalFertility and Sterility. Years cited was easy to compute, and had good descriptive statistics, satisfactory generalizability coefficients, high correlations with total citation counts, and distributions little influenced by outliers. These results supported the appropriateness of the years cited measure.

Notes: Abstract Evidence is examined for the repeated claim that published papers with more than one author are, on average, of higher quality than those with a single author. Among published studies it is shown that no clear conclusion can be drawn, though evidence supporting the claim is stronger in astronomy and physics than among the social sciences. An empirical study of 656 papers in four Australian science journals produced negative results. Possible reasons for the differing results, and difficulties in researching the field, are highlighted.

Notes: Abstract This paper traced an individual paper through the literature as it garnered citations. This paper was chosen because of its seminal nature in a highly controversial area of theoretical physics. The distribution of citations was tested against models suggested byPrice andKuhn as well as compared to other studies which also examined benchmark papers. The results indicate that the paper chosen behaved in a significantly different way from most of the prior models. The suggestion is made that further study of this and papers like it will add much to the theory of information transfer in science.

Notes: Abstract Simple relations were found between Relative Citation Rate (RCR), Relative Subfield Citedness (Rw) and Subfield Publication Strategy (PS) indicators. The Rw indicator is supposed to be more characteristic of the international scientific impact of papers than RCR using mean citation rate of journals representing the respective subfield, as standard.

Notes: Abstract The structure measure byKretschmer 1 estimates the cooperation of a scientist. It is generalized in such a way that it increases with respect to the cooperation strengh with one of the collaborators. An alternative to the hierarchical structure measure is proposed which is continuous in all cooperation strengths.

Notes: Abstract This paper1 provides further evidence for the validity of the holography and maximum speed principles. Supportive examples stem from an attempt to measure speed indicators in scientific communication processes directly; from a new scientific communication channel launched by the Institute for Scientific Information, Philadelphia, USA; from a search for correlations between scientometric indicators and socio-economic indicators; and from a study of rank distribution, phenomena occurring in the transition from individual to collective parameters for ranking of scientific journals. Examples of this kind increase the reliability of the behavioral principles when these are imposed on the design, performance and use of both the formal and informal channels of the system of scientific communication.

Notes: Abstract It is commonly stated and believed that scholarly and scientific journal literature is growing exponentially. To obtain a truer picture of the situation, a study was made of a sample of 190 journals that started life in or before 1950, 20 in each of 9 subject fields, plus 10 extra in literature. The number of articles in each journal in 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980 and 1987 was counted. The analysis showed a rapid growth in most subjects up to 1970, a much slower growth between 1976 and 1980, and a slow growth or decline between 1980 and 1987; the fields of decline included general and physical science and technology. The total number of journals is still increasing, but the rate of growth has dropped dramatically over the last ten years. Although it is possible that more recently established journals would show a different pattern, it seems likely that the overall rate of growth of the total number of journal articles is slow.

Notes: Abstract In this paper we apply ‘co-author analysis’ to create from a large set of publications clusters of collaborating researchers within a faculty of chemical engineering. Results have been discussed with an expert. The co-author clusters appeared to be meaningful, with respect to the identification of research groups, the relations within these groups, as well as to relations between these groups and changes in time. Also differences between ISI-based and non-ISI based maps proved to be consistent with the expert's opinion. Many clusters represent collaborating authors grouped around a full professor, mostly the department chairman. Co-author analysis can be used, for example, as an important tool in evaluative bibliometrics in order to make a first identification of research groups in ‘unknown’ universities or organizations.

Notes: Abstract The impact of 17 year period of funding in schistosomiasis research on publication outcome was examined. Two productivity and three quality indicators were used to compare the output from the entire population of schistosomiasis in this period with those associated with 351 funded researchers. A substantially higher productivity and citation impact were found. This consistency of direction points to the positive effect of a period of sustained funding commitment.

Notes: Abstract In accordance with high incidence of AIDS cases, there is an epidemic growth of its literature. This unprecedented growth of literature calls for serious scientometric study. Such a study will not only help the scientometrists, information scientists, but also will be very useful to the related research workers. With this in view an attempt has been made to analyse AIDS literature published during the period 1976–1986 to identify its international channel of communication, medium of communication, contributing countries, authorship trends etc. This study is based on data printed in a source document entitledCollected Papers on AIDS Research, 1976–1986 published by BIOSIS which is a retrospective bibliography incorporating valuable references to research on AIDS from 9,000 source titles monitored in BIOSIS data base. The findings of this study have also been compared to those ofWyatt andSelf, Filardo andLancaster.

Notes: Abstract With respect to the issue of whether the scientometric measurement of “the decline of British science” is an artifact of the specific database and underlying assumptions in methods, I argue that there are fewer analytical objections against measurement by usingSciSearch Online than against other methods (based on the “fixed journal set” and “fractional counting”). The measurement of “international co-authorship”, i.e. a network indicator, should not be confounded with measurement of performance of a single nation. The time series for the different subsets of UK-publications, which have been proposed, are given. None of the indicators can be shown to exhibit a trend (in contrast to a drift). The hypothesis of a decline has therefore to be rejected.

Notes: Abstract Martin andIrvine believe that their bibliometric data indicates that British science is in decline. This paper shows that, in fact, their data points to a considerable expansion in British science. To account for different countries' scientific performance, this paper generates simple predictive formulae that correlate Gross National Product with research output.

Notes: Abstract Investigating the relationships found in the documentation of a subject field is one method of examining the communication taking place in that field. Bibliometrics provides an objective method for this type of investigation. Coauthorship, while intuitively seeming to indicate strong communication links, nevertheless has been shown to produce graphical structures that vary with changes in threshold. Having determined that clustering structure does exist in the data, preferred partitions are identified as those least likely to have occurred by chance. Further analysis is made to test that the preferred or “meaningful” structures produced from the coauthor relationship do indeed correspond with empirical evidence of “meaning”. A small dataset of 371 authors and 550 coauthor pairs is used to investigate correspondence between experimental structures and empirical evidence. Results show that components of the experimental structures are largely consistent with subject content groups as determined by index terms. Geographic focus accounts for about half the cases showing term overlap. Hence, we have some evidence that bibliometric structures determined from the coauthor relationship may be consistent with networks of communication. If this continues to be documented by further research, bibliometric analysis of coauthor relationships found in the scholarly communication of a subject area can become a basic tool for communication research.

Notes: Abstract Large samples of papers published in theJournal of Biological Chemistry in all decades and in some mid-decades werechecked in order to study the referencing pattern, throughout the period 1910–1985, in an internationally leading journal, with especially high “citation impact”. All measures show that there has been a significant growth in the number of references per paper, during most of the period, but mainly from the 1950's on, refuting Meadows' “upper limit”. A detailed comparison to a wide range of fields shows theJBC rates to be among the highest. Eight factors affecting the number of references are discussed, and some projections for the future are made.

Notes: Abstract This article investigates the function of scientific papers in the production of scientific knowledge. For this production, the citations made of these papers in the scientific literature can be considered as economic utilities. The work of the scientist is described as the production of citations by means of citations. The number of citations received by a given paper can be used to measure the paper's formal utility. The formal utility of scientific papers is studied empirically. It is concluded that the references contained in a scientific paper are a major determinant of its future utility.

Notes: Abstract The research developed from the identification of the most highly cited Soviet journals in the physical and life sciences. Several measures of growth and citedness were taken at the beginning and end of a recent five-year period, 1982–87, in order to generally assess the functions of these journals. The research involved making comparisons among these groupings of journals and control groupings of journals with similar content, but not published in the Soviet Union. Differences in citedness could be related, in the physical sciences, to the scale of Russophone science within world sciences, but not in the life sciences. In the physical sciences, there are increases in the citedness across Soviet and Western journals; but in the Soviet journals the increase is several times greater than in the control grouping. In sharp contrast, the largest, most cited, Western life sciences' journals have increased in citedness and other groupings, including Soviet journals, have declined. The measures on control groups show that the extreme levels of improvement in citedness on the part of Soviet physical sciences' journals reflect local, i.e. Soviet, developments. The decrease in citedness of Soviet life sciences' journals seems, instead, tied broadly to events in the world life sciences' literature. There has been, apparently a “centralizing” of attention within those discipline on those few journals publishing major findings while leaving the rest of the world literature behind. In addition, the research developed several findings on the formal properties of the measures used.

Notes: Abstract This paper is based on the findings of a survey on technological innovation in the Italian industry. All Italian manufacturing firms were screened in the analysis and, at the end of a screening process, 8,220 of them, which had introduced relevant technological innovations over the period 1981–1985, filled out either a mail questionnaire or were covered through a personal interview. Data and preliminary comments on the following problem-areas are set in the paper: type of innovation introduced in the firm (product, process), impact of innovations on the firm's products and sales, cost of innovation, technological relevance of innovations introduced, impact of innovations on the utilization of input factors, factors linked to the introduction of innovation, performance of R & D. Data show that technological innovation is a complex aspect of company life; it relates to both products and production processes: in more than half of the cases firms introduced both product and process innovations, whereas only products or processes were introduced in about 20 per cent of cases, respectively. It is also apparent that the majority of innovations are new only for the firm, and that only a limited share are new for the sector or for the country. Looking at the techno-scientific “quality” of the innovations introduced, quite often innovations were classified as technical improvements or enhancements, and in a very limited number of cases they were considered as applications of a scientific breakthrough. The breakdown of the innovation costs shows that, on average, more than half of the cost is attributed to investment (machinery, equipment, etc) one fourth to engineering and design activity, one fifth to R & D and the remaining 5 per cent to marketing activities. The most important factor linked to the introduction of innovation appears to be the acquisition of plant and machinery. This confirms the result of previous analyses which show that the introduction of new technologies hinges upon new machinery and equipment, often the sole means for the acquisition of technology produced by other economic agents — a diffusion and adaptation process is occurring. R & D was mentioned in a limited number of cases. In the paper a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the R & D performed by the firm is reported. In particular, it is shown that the number of R & D performing manufacturing firms is more than double that which emerges from the annual survey on research and development activities carried out by the Italian Central Statistical Office.

Notes: Abstract Results are given of an analysis of the scientific papers describing work carried out under two European Community research programmes, in biotechnology and environmental chemicals. They were shown to be more multinational in their authorship than other papers in the same journals, and as a consequence, more frequently cited in the 5 years following publication. The citation rates peak early for the biotechnology papers suggesting that effective measures have been taken to disseminate the results of the work to other scientists so that they have become aware of them earlier than usual.

Notes: Abstract This paper rests upon a review of 15 evaluation reports of R & D programmes worked out during the 80's by the European Commission. The analysis aims at answering the main questions: Why did emerge the needs for output indicators in the middle of the 80's? What kind of output indicators were built up (or tentative)? With which methodology? What were their actual use in the evaluation reports? The linkage between EC R & D policies and evaluation is examined in order to discuss the relationships between the goals of R & D programmes and the criteria for evaluation. It is shown that the followed evaluation methodology and the evaluation goals at hand are paramount for the choice of output indicators; such goals encompass a.o. the description of the programmes, the assessment of the contractors opinion, the appraisal of the “techno-economic” effects of the programmes. As a result “expected output indicators” were developed (BRITE programme). On the other hand, one has called “meta-evaluation”, the indirect measurement of Scientific results by bibliometry (BEP_BAP programmes). Similarly, “intermediate indicators” were built up for evaluating the programmes management performance (ESPRIT programme). At last “derived output indicators” were used for techno-economic evaluation, (EURAM programmes) leading to the quantified global judgement of a “before-after” methodology, (SCIENCE-STIMULATION programmes).

Notes: Abstract The goals of the evaluation of the R & D programmes of the Commission of the European Communities is to assess, beside scientific and technical achievements, the added value due to the implementation of these activities at European level. This requires the development of techniques different from those normally used for the measurement of scientific output. In particular a number of indicators have been developed to assess international cooperation promoted by EC programmes and the resulting economic and industrial impact.

Notes: Abstract This paper outlines the results of a recent survey of the UK contract research market, estimated at 900 MECU (1988/89). Most UK contract research organization (CROs) undertake a small but significant amount of overseas contract R & D (both for other Member States and elsewhere), and see this increasing as the Single European Market (SEM) develops. Most UK CROs have participated in EC R & D programmes and viewed involvement as a, generally, positive experience. UK Industrial customers of contract R & D, although more Uk orientated, also believe the SEM will increase the amount of contracting from Member States. Industrial companies involved in EC R & D programmes also noted benefits from involvement. Both UK CROs and the industrial customer organizations saw the SEM and the associated Europeanization process as enhancing commercial contacts with organizations in other Member States.

Notes: Abstract Under the sponsorship of the U.S. National Science Foundation, CHI Research, Inc. developed the bibliometric indicators for the U.S. National Science Board'sScience Indicators Reports starting withScience Indicators 1972. In the work reported here, for the Commission of the European Communities, CHI has extended the Science Indicators techniques and database to a study of publication, coauthorship and citation within 28 scientific fields related to various European Community programs. Perhaps the most important finding of the research was that internationally coauthored papers — papers authored by scientists affiliated with institutions in more than one EC country — were cited two times as highly as papers authored by scientists working at a single institution within a single country. These EC-EC internationally coauthored papers were cited as highly as EC-Non EC and Non-EC papers. This indicates that the internationally linked European science is of as high impact as any other science in the world. A second key finding was that, after compensating for national scientific size, the degree of international coauthorship did not appear to be particularly dependent upon size. However, linguistic and cultural factors were found to be very strong. The patterns of coauthorship amongst the European countries are far from homogeneous, and are quite heavily affected by linguistic, historical, and cultural factors. Finally, it was found that international coauthorship is increasing steadily, both within and outside of the Community, with some evidence that international cooperation is increasing more rapidly in scientific fields that have been targeted by the Commission.

Notes: Abstract International scientific co-operation (ISC) and awareness are topics of increasing interest for both scientists and science policy makers. In this paper, we adopt primarily the science policy point of view. After a concise overview of the literature we summarize the main results of the research we conducted. The main outcome with respect to ISC is that it increases. However, large differences exist between countries and between scientific disciplines. ISC and awareness constitute a complex phenomenon, affected by several factors, science-internal, as well as external. In the paper several techniques are described, amongst which those that can visualize ISC relations through analytical maps. An important aspect of our research methodology is the combination of various quantitative, bibliometric analyses and qualitative research on the structure of science and the relations between science and society. Finally, we sketch perspectives for future research.

Notes: Abstract Cohesion, as a concept, may be related to symbiosis. It implies an association of dissimilar entities to their mutual advantage. It is a particularly appropriate concept for the Community itself, and a very important one, as Europe moves towards greater integration. Economic, political and institutional integration will occur more easily and quickly if cohension between the different elements involved can be achieved. Cohesion of the European scientific Community, can play a role in assisting (or delaying) the overall movement of the Community towards greater and more lasting integration. Cohesion of the scientific community implies, among other things; - free and open exchange of information, - joint planning and execution of projects, - access to facilities and results, - narrowing of disparities in scientific and technical capability between regions and Member States. There is evidence that progress is being made in respect of a number of these. Under the stimulus of the Framework Programme, the scientific community in Europe has become a more cohesive force. An important indicator of this is the level of participation by regions and Member States in the Programme. However, while some regions and Member States are major participants, there are grounds for concern about the level of participation of certain peripheral and Less Favoured Regions.

Notes: Abstract Each of the EC research programmes has to be evaluated with respect to their objectives. This paper describes the study of the effects of the SCIENCE/STIMULATION Programmes on all the laboratories that participated in contracts which were still running at the time of the study. The study was designed with special regard to the short time available. Nevertheless, it yielded sufficient data to justify a clustering of the laboratories networks in four classes as they looked before the contract and in six classes as they looked afterwards. Thus, the study provided quantification of the links among the laboratories. We find that the method is feasible within the constraints set, but we recommend that further theoretical work be done on the concept of networks as well as on the processing of the data and, more ambitiously, that more global studies be made possible by use of this method on other surveys.

Notes: Abstract Major findings are reported of a survey of scientists and engineers awarded an EC Training Fellowship between 1966 and 1988. 472 former fellows and 140 renoncés, i.e. declining the fellowship awarded, report about academic experiences in another EC country and administrative issues of the fellowship as well as subsequent careers. The article places special emphasis on the 12 percent of former fellows from less favoured regions of the European community. They turn out to regard the fellowship more favourably than fellows from advanced regions, but would prefer other options, if they could decide again.

Notes: Abstract Evidence from Greece suggests that after its accession to the EC the country benefited from a limited transfer of resources in form of R & D subsidies, which were heavily concentrated both sectorally and institutionally, hardly leading to marketable innovations. A detailed analysis shows though that the country benefited more from the EC technology policy in the form of a) subsidies for R & D infrastructure and b) quick adaptation of its institutions to new challenges. Based on this experience it is suggested that STRIDE, a Community R & D programme for less favoured regions, be evaluated with both cohesion and excellence indicators.

Notes: Abstract Results are given of a bibliometric study covering 1977–86 and 28 scientific fields defined by journals and title keywords. Attention was focussed on publications from less favoured regions of the EC, containing 20% of the population, 10% of the g.d.p., but only 5% of scientific output, although this is growing rapidly. The scientific strengths of the different LFRs vary and details are given. Finally, some appropriate indicators are suggested to measure the effectiveness of scientific infrastructure support planned for these regions.

Notes: Abstract This article describes investigations into the publication behaviour of scientific authors from the GDR. The obtained data revealed that — analogous to the Lotka-distribution — not only a fifth of all authors produce half of the publications of a certain institute, but that these authors also have a quicker reaction time and receptivity to new international research problems. These findings may make it possible to substantiate proposals by guiding scientists in the direction of themes, respectively to help the science policy in the process of the elaboration of new research programs.

Notes: Abstract The co-word method (Leximappe programme) is used to illustrate the essential themes of intermational research based on the computer analysis of databases of scientific articles and patents. Further, we illustrate that these themes often follow characteristic cycles. Research projects submitted to a research funding organisation were subjected to a similar analysis. It was then possible in one sense to evaluate the relevance of funding support, particularly in terms of the degree of maturity of international research.

Notes: Abstract In the framework of the MONITOR-SPEAR programme of the Commission of the European Communities a critical review of the literature with regard to the utility of patent indicators being in use for evaluation world-wide has been undertaken. Availability, scope and complementarity of these indicators are discussed. A practical tool to use patent indicators for evaluation committees of EC programmes is designed and recommendations for EC procedures are given. The suggested procedures will be implemented alongside three sample exercises. One of the exercise programmes is science-led (BEP and BAP), one industry-led (BRITE I) and one interphase (MHR). In this paper only selected examples with respect to the MHR programme are outlined and discussed. The project is not completed yet and only preliminary findings will be given in this paper. From the viewpoint of its present state it is concluded that patent indicators may play a very useful role within a mixed set of evaluation procedures. The intersection with other methods is not very large, that is, patent indicators may provide supplementary information to a large extent. However, their use is limited to those types of programmes which are relevant for intellectual property rights mostly in the commercial realm. Patent indicators share with other evaluation tools the problem of best adjustment of time windows between observation and execution of the programme. Despite of these limitations, patent indicators may be employed properly as output indicators related to ongoing EC programmes, but as well for propective analysis of applied fields of R & D and may thus help in the definition phase of new R & D programmes.

Notes: Abstract An “INSERM bibliometric database”, which lists the publications of researchers at the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research, was compiled by downloading references from the MEDLINE and theScience Citation Index (SCI) bibliographical databases, and by using micro-computing techniques. MEDLINE and the SCI proved to be complementary data sources well-suited to this work. Initial results of an analysis of this INSERM bibliometric database are given. They help to situate the organization's written production in a national and an international context and, in particular, to trace the “profile” of the Institute's researchers and the impact of the journals used in their publications.

Notes: Abstract This is a statistical analysis of the publishing activity of astronomers worldwide, as measured by the number of papers and monographs published in the period 1969–87. Both the astronomical literature and the number of authors publishing in the field are increasing rapidly. The distribution of productivity among astronomers is followed in time, thus revealing the evolution of research methods and publication strategies in the past 19 years. Fourteen “superproductive” astronomers, who published over 150 papers in 15 years, and the subsample of French astronomers active in 1986 are investigated separately.

Notes: Abstract In a study of scientific publications originating from laboratories in the city of Marseille, we look at both the quantitative evolution of these publications over time and their thematic development. Using the section headings of the Chemical Abstract database we identify the principal research poles of the city and their relationships.

Notes: Abstract This study compares information obtained from the INIST/CNRS bibliographical database PASCAL with that found in theAtlas of Science published by ISI. The goal of the comparison was to contribute, to a better understanding of how databases can be used to carry out fine-grained studies of social and cognitive factors which affect the definition of a scientific research program. The program studied concern the development of research on “brushborder” cell membranes.

Notes: Abstract The goal of this article is to show that it is possible to construct an index to measure a country's relative specialization in different scientific fields in a way which is both reliable and relevant for macro-strategic analysis. We will call this index a “Revealed Scientific Advantages Index”. The technical problem to be discussed is one of aggregation: how can we be sure that an index calculated for a small number of relatively large fields does not mask significant policy needs synthetic measures which are easy to interpret. We will show that the “Revealed Scientific Advantages” approach offers the possibility of building them. The study itself is based on figures obtained through an exploitation of the INIST/CNRS PASCAL database classification of science. 107 sub-fields of this classification were initially used to determine the areas of specialization for 11 countries (“revealed national advantages”). Clustering techniques were then used to aggregate this data and 13 specific fields were identified. The science policy information produced during the study concerned these 13 fields. It proved to be both easily understandable and relevant for macro-strategic analysis.

Notes: Abstract In this study, a network management approach to science policy decision-making guided our efforts to develop new co-word analysis techniques for the evaluation of regional research policies. A rich collection of factual data was gathered on inputs into the local research system (funding, personnel, equipment, ...). This data was then combined with the results of a coword analysis of the region's publication output. The network management approach is useful in helping to determine the nature of input/output relationships in a regional context.

Notes: Abstract This article presents the results of a study carried out for CNRS policy makers. The goal of the study was two-fold: first, it was aimed at evaluating the research effort devoted to “understanding chemical reactions” both in France and throughout the world; second, it was designed to test the usefulness of bibliometric techniques for strategic analysis. One feature of this article merits special attention. It is co-signed by the researchers who carried out the study and by the policy makers for whom it was intended.

Notes: Abstract Techniques for studying problematic networks in science and technology are principally derived either from citation analyses or from lexical methods. The former have been the object of many developments and improvements. A considerable range of applications exists within the practical constraint of their being limited to fields covered by the ISI databases. For the latter, the co-word method has a register of applications that up until now have been more specialized in the sociology of “science as it is done”, but it has in principle no field limitations. An important question is whether we can extend the application range of this analytical method to take in longer periods, and in particular to deal with historiography either on a large scale (at the level of a research field) or on a small scale (at the level of a process of discovery or invention). Here we propose a way of rendering lexical methods dynamic, more particularly through developing a rudimentary but precise technique to aid historiographical analysis. This method ofcritical variations is illustrated in a working example.

Notes: Abstract The goal of this paper is to show how co-word analysis techniques can be used to study interactions between academic and technological research. It is based upon a systematic content analysis of publications in the polymer science field over a period of 15 years. The results concern a.) the evolution of research in different subject areas and the patterns of their interaction; b.) a description of subject area “life cycles”; c.) an analysis of ”research trajectories” given factors of stability and change in a research network; d.) the need to use both science push and technology pull theories to explain the interaction dynamics of a research field. The co-word techniques developed in this paper should help to build a bridge between research in scientometrics and work underway to better understand the economics of innovation.

Notes: Abstract The strategy of judging the quality of scientific research by the level of funding it attracts is critically examined. It is argued that an indes such as per captita research income, which is based on grant-giver peer review, yields an unsatisfactory measure of scientific performance. It fails to fulfil a basic requirement of a performance indicator, namely, that it should relate outputs to inputs. It has intrinsically low validity, and is strongly confounced with a variety of extraneous factors that are unrelated to research performance.

Notes: Abstract The number of astronomers living at different times in analyzed, from the classic antiquity to modern times through the different available statistics. For present times the number is estimated to be about 9.000; this number gros exponentially. A zero order model is proposed to pass from the annual number of authors of papers to the number of active astronomers.

Notes: Abstract There is a rapid growth of cancer literature. Thousands of papers are being regularly published every year not only in speciality journals, but also in journals of other disciplines. Citation studies are nowadays considered a major basis of science indicators for ascertaining the importance of a scientific journal and that of the published articles on a particular subject. In oncological research the journalCancer is considered as one of the top most journals and is universally well known for its high standard and excellence. In this paper an attempt has been made to find out the importance of all the articles published in it for a particular year. Side by side bibliometric analysis was made to ascertain various other aspects like time lag between publication and first citation of articles, average citation time, subject scattering and identification of most important journals in the field etc. It is believed that this study would be of help to the working oncologists, librarians and information scientists to assess the importance of articles published in a top ranking journal of cancer and also that of different journals publishing oncological research results.

Notes: Abstract Scientific, technological, and economic data are investigated for 128 countries. A stepwise regression analysis is carried out on the data, using domestic patent counts as the dependent variable. The form of the regression equations is the Cobb-Douglas production function. The analysis shows that domestic patents (as indicator of national technological capacity, and treated here as the dependent variable) are closely related to GNP (a measure of national economic size), counts of scientific publications (an indicator of scientific capacity), and counts of national patents obtained in the U.S. (a measure of world class technological capacity). Together, these three independent variables account for more than 92 percent of the variance in the dependent variable.

Notes: Abstract Lindsey recently examined the precision of the manuscript review process using a stochastic model. The study reported that the low reliability found by previous studies results in journals publishing a large number of papers that should otherwise be rejected and rejecting an equally large number of papers that should be accepted.Hargens andHerting have criticized this view. This paper addresses their criticisms. The paper includes an examination of sociology journals usingimpact scores. The differences between journals is noted. Part of the variation between sociology journals derives from their editorial operations. Central to their editorial operations is the reviewing of manuscripts for publication. Not all journals perform this task equally well. The consequences of poor editorial management are discussed. To improve the quality of published work journals need to reduce the low reliability of the current manuscript review process.

Notes: Abstract Not all highly cited papers have the same citation life cycle curves, i.e. curves of frequency of citations received vs. time. The citation life of ten randomly selected Citation Classics, five in medicine and five in biochemistry, are studied longitudinally in time and compared with a random sample of ten non-classics of the same cohort. There are pronounced differences in the life cycle curves; two distinct types are suggested. Type A, comprised of both high and low cited papers in both fields, has an early peak of citation rate and may be approximated by a bilinear cumulative citation curve with a break at six years of age, when three quarters of the total number of citations have occurred. Type B, in this study comprised of extremely highly cited methodological Citation Classics, exhibit a constant or slowly accelerating growth rate with a vigorous citation life extending over the entire period studied and typically one third or less of the total citations accumulated at six years of age.

Notes: Abstract The relationship between the size of national scientific activities of advanced countries and the degree of specialization by fields of science is examined using bibliometric indicators of the number of papers and of paper citations. A negative relation between the amount of scientific activity and the degree of scientific specialization has emerged, with Japan and, to a lesser extent Italy, showing a specialization degree higher than expected. Countries with established scientific traditions (such as the US, the UK, the Netherlands, and Switzerland) have a lower than expected specialization degree, suggesting a more diversified range of research activities. Over time, however, most countries have reduced their scientific specialization, a pattern which is in contrast with recent research on patents and technological specialization.

Notes: Abstract The development of American medical education before the Civil War was studied. One hundred and forty-three first professors in American medical schools before the Civil War were selected, and records of their academic origins, places of birth, and study abroad were collected from various biographical sources. Based on the prosopographical analysis of personal data of first professors, the historical changes and the characteristics in American medical education are discussed.

Notes: Abstract The science revolution, the “paradigm” change and the Ortega hypothesis on the role of average scientists are discussed in the context of catchup of developing countries. The relative weight of scientific fields is compared between countries as revealing their values on science. Finding some significant difference between countries, the role of developing countries is discussed in view of a possible science revolution, the “paradigm” change and the Ortega hypothesis.

Notes: Abstract Publication and citation indicators of 26 countries in 5 major science fields are presented in the form of three-dimensional “landscapes”. These “landscapes” being an extension of relational charts by adding the dimension of publication size to the expected and observed citation rates, take us one step closer to the ideal of multidimensional assessments so passionately advocated byMoravcsik.

Notes: Abstract A comparison has been made of the long-term careers of complete samples of astronomers who earned their PhD's at one prestigious (P) and one nonprestigious (NP) university. The sample sizes are 106 (degrees 1952–88) and 94 (degrees 1966–88) respectively. For both groups, the vast majority are still engaged in some aspect of astronomy or closely related sciences (90% and 74% respectively). But the fraction still engaged primarily in astronomical research and advanced teaching at PhD-granting universities and observatories is 65% for the prestigious and only 32% for the non-prestigious institution. The half-lives as members of the research publishing community are more than 30 yr vs. less than 20 yr for P vs. NP astronomers. Very little of the difference is attributable to the different distributions of dates of degrees in the two samples. A subsample of the P astronomers age-matched to the NP ones has 66% still engaged is astronomical research and advanced teaching; a large difference in publishing half-lives also persists in the subsamples with degrees since 1966.

Notes: Abstract The results of a study for evaluating research performance of two Greek University Departments of Mathematics are presented. In order to achieve this elements from the Sussex and Leiden methodologies of constructing and using bibliometric indicators were used. Comparison of the two groups were based on their similarities. The convergence of bibliometric indicators procedure as applied in Leiden methodology together with a number new bibliometric indicators were used. Results shown that bibliometric indicators if applied properly may give very interesting information on the research performance and nature of research carried out in University Departments.

Notes: Abstract Public universities reflect the aspirations a state or society has for its young people and for itself. In this study our interest has been to examine the level of public funding for universities and its relation to quality. In order to do this we collected funding data for a sample American universities. Additionally, we collected data on the production of science by faculty at the institutions in our American sample. The results indicated a strong relation between investment in higher education and quality. We then developed a measure of return on investment in research which combined these measures of funding and research production. We conclude by examining the nature of the relationship between funding and research quality at public universities.

Notes: Abstract The citation rates of scientific papers, long used by numerous sociologists of science to measure the influence of individual scientists and the diffusion of knowledge, are shown to be partly affected by the various structural characteristics of these papers. Based on an analysis of 221 scientific papers in three cocitation clusters, between 15 and 35 percent of the variation in citation rates is found to be a function of those papers' textual and nontextual characteristics. The citation rates of papers in the Burkitts-Lymphoma and Heavy Quark Potential clusters are shown to be heavily dependent on abstract characteristics such as readability and number of uncommon words. The citation rates of DNA cluster papers are observed to be significantly affected by both the number of references and figures found in teh body of those papers. Of particular note is the fact that while the readability of abstracts is shown to decrease the citation rates of Burkitts-Lymphoma papers, the opposite is true of Heavy Quark Potential papers.

Notes: Abstract In this paper, the special place of Zipf's law and Pareto's law amongst other classical informetric laws (such as Bradford's graphical and verbal law, Weber-Fechner's or Brookes', Leimkuhler's and Mandelbrot's) is revealed and explained. Equivalencies amongst some of these laws are proved. We also determine the conditions under which Bradford's graphical law is a special case of Bradford's verbal law.

Notes: Abstract The science-related material published in newspapers can be analysed to provide insight into the biases and techniques involved in transferring knowledge from the science community to the general public. A part of such studies can be carried out in quantitative terms. Three such quantitative approaches are illustrated here: (1) measurement of space devoted to science; (2) derivation of readability indices; (3) content analysis.

Notes: Abstract Methodological implications of four accounting procedures applied in multiple authorship treatment relating to author productivity distribution were investigated. The emphasis was given to the individual author rank and inequality pattern of data. It was found that similar pattern of inequality holds in three of the four analysed cases, in spite of the fact that significant changes were observed on the individual level. By introducing the concept of dual approach a plausible interpretation of that phenomenon was obtained.

Notes: Abstract Differences in size, mean number of references per paper in journals, ageing of information and disciplinarity of some subfields in chemistry were studied in order to explain different average impact factors for journals. A new indicator —Standard Journal Impact — is suggested, which may be used as a standardized (i.e. comparable) impact indicator for journals in different subfields. The main reason for the lower impact factor for journals of the macromolecular chemistry subfield may be the lower extent of the application of their results by other subfields.

Notes: Abstract From an analysis of bibliographic data on 430 journal articles on liquid crystals covered inPhysics Abstracts 1976 and the 4729 citations to them up to the end of 1987, we have identified the geographic origin, the prominent institutions, language and journal-wise distribution of the papers, the citedness of these papers, and the distribution of citations as a time series for the highly cited papers. We have also analysed the 126 papers published by authors from India, Canada, Australia, Israel, Japan and the United Kingdom and covered inPhysics Abstracts 1978, and the 1154 citations to them up to 1987. Unlike in most other high tech areas of physics, in LC research the difference in performance between the USA and the other leading countries is not very pronounced. Publication data from 1976, 1978 and 1985 reveal that LC literature is on the rise and that the percentage share of the Soviet Union is rising fast and that of the USA is on the decline.

Notes: Abstract Models and indicators characterizing the dynamics of national publication productivity distributions are presented. The indicator triplet: transience, renewal, and dynamism is used to describe the «physical shape» of a national scientific community.

Notes: Abstract No new arguments or evidence that undermine our conviction that available scientometric measures do not indicate a statistically significant “decline” of British science in the first half of the eighties have been found inMartin's reply.

Notes: Abstract Varied empirical studies show that the average output (measured in various ways) of a scientific or technical research group is directly proportional to its size (also measured in various ways), when the size and output are measured independently. Hence groups of different sizes have the same average output per unit of size. There is no reliable evidence for the existence of a size or a range of sizes for a research group that maximizes output per unit of size. Present theoretical explanations for the proportionality between size and output are largely inadequate or untested. Similarly, among reported results on group age and output, the only consistency so far is that age, measured as years since the founding or first functioning of the group, is uncorrelated with output per capita. Again, there is no evidence for the existence of an age or a range of ages for a research group that is optimal.

Notes: Abstract This article is an attempt to identify the strengths and weaknesses of South African technology as they are manifested in patent analysis. Using the “Technological Activity and Impact Indicators Database” of CHI Research/Computer Horizons, Inc., we identified the South African Innovation profile for the period 1975–1988. Patents are analysed in their aggregate form in patent classes, Standard Industrial Classes and technologically similar classes. The result indicates a shift of activity from low to medium technology fields and a weakness in high technology fields. Comparison of scientific and technological activity also eveals that South Africa contributes five times as much in international science than it does in technology. Detailed analyses indicate the rise of a defence related industry in the country and reveal areas of emphasis and neglect.

Notes: Abstract We use a co-word analysis of the key words of 6055 articles that appeared in the psychology of work from 1973 to 1987 and were listed in the PASCAL database to bring out changes in the scientific themes of the field. We can discern which themes remained significant and which disappeared, as well as the psychology of work's borrowings from and contributions to other disciplines. Co-word analysis therefore constitutes a new tool in the science policy arena.

Notes: Abstract An analysis of the output of the literature scanned in Engineering Index during 1970–84 on solar power research indicates that the growth of the literature had been vigorous after the energy crisis in 1973 till 1982. The number of papers at conferences are quite close to the number of references in journals. The area of solar collectors and solar cells has received maximum attention. Publication output of literature by different countries follows the trend in basic sciences with USA being the major producer. The research activity became global after the energy crisis. Performance of the developed countries is low in some fields of solar power.

Notes: Abstract A recent extensive review of research in British universities has produced a research rating for each university department based primarily on peer review of the department's publications. In this preliminary study, we compare these ratings with publication and citation data for the chemistry departments at two British universities. The results underline the importance of the most productive researchers in departments. This point is supported by citation data from a chemical engineering department.

Notes: Abstract It is pointed out that the so-called “Bradford distribution” derived by Leimkuhler is more properly viewed as the theoretical form of a variant of the Lorenz curve. The equation of this Leimkuhler curve allows an easy calculation of the Gini coefficient of concentration which can be compared with empirical values.

Notes: Abstract The citation motivations among 51 self citing authors in several natural science disciplines were investigated. Results of a survey on reasons for both self citation and citation to others show that there are very few differences in motivation, and that there are plausible intellectual grounds for those differences which are substantial. Analysis of exposure in text reveals virtually no differences between self citations and citations to others. Analysis of individual disciplines also uncover no substantive differences in either motivation or exposure in text.