ALBERT

Notes: Abstract The specialty of collagen research is tracked over a ten year period, 1970–1979, using the methodology of co-citation cluster strings. Independently obtained annual clusters are linked together over time by the percentage of highly cited documents countinuing from year to year. All inter-year links are clustered by single-linkage to form the strings, one of which corresponds to the collagen specialty. Maps of the individual year clusters within the string reveal an alternating pattern of expansion/innovation followed by contraction/consolidation. At the same time the subject focus of research gradually shifts. The institutional affiliation and funding sources for highly cited documents show a trend from early dominance by a few institutions and sources to a multiplicity and collaboration of centers and sources later on, due in part to the migration of researchers from an initially dominant institution.

Notes: Abstract Some bibliometric methods for the assessment of the publication activity of research units are discussed on the basis of impact factors and citations of papers. “Average subfield impact factor” of periodicals representing subfields in chemistry is suggested. This indicator characterizes the average citedness of a paper in a given subfield. Comparing the total sum of impact factors of corresponding periodicals divided by the number of papers published by a research team to the average subfield impact factor a “publication strategy” indicator can be derived. A new bibliometric indicator, “relative subfield impact”, is introduced which compares the number of citations received by papers of a research unit to the average subfield impact factor.

Notes: Abstract Scientific output in the Caribbean and Latin American countries was studied examining the publications indexed by the Institute for Scientific Information which conform the mainstream literature. The growth patterns of first-authors-publishing-scientific-papers coming from the five most productive countries of the region were determined. In addition, the scientific publications from each country of the region, as indexed in 1981, were classified per field. It was found that most of the research was done in the life sciences area. However, the small scientific output observed in all fields appears insufficient to assure a positive role of science for the best overall development of each individual society. This situation may reflect a lack of support for the progress of science in these countries and therefore political commitment towards this purpose is considered to be of particular importance.

Notes: Abstract Ranking of scientific periodicals by the method of citation counting provides valueable information about the degree of importance of the ranked periodicals. But such lists suffer from some inherent limitations. This paper discusses various pitfalls of traditional ranking lists and suggests, as a remedial measure, three new bibliometric parameters, namely, (1) scientific interest of a journal in relation to total number of articles published; (2) compactness of information content in a scientific periodical; and (3) scientific value of the papers in relation to compactness of presentation. It is believed that these new parameters, whenever applied to any traditional ranking list, will help to identify the accurate positions of different scientific journals of the parent list in order of their usefulness and importance. As a case study these parameters have been applied to the first ten core journals of biochemistry identified earlier and a revised reranked order of the titles presented and discussed.

Notes: Abstract A collection of 1316 articles authored by Cuban scientists and published in the period 1950 to 1983 was assembled. The 18 991 bibliographic references in these papers were examined to identify factors that might influence the sources cited by Cuban scientists over the entire period. Degree of collaboration, place of publication and subject matter were among the factors considered. The major objective was to study the effect that the change in political alignment of Cuba (from Western bloc to Eastern bloc influence) has had on the sources cited. It was found that citation to Eastern bloc countries has greatly increased in the period since Castro assumed power. However, no corresponding decline in citation to Western bloc countries can be discerned.

Notes: Abstract The problem addressed concerns the conditions that foster productivity among natural scientists in a large research laboratory. We take several variables identified as important in two major perspectives in the literature on productivity, and use these variables to construct a causal model. Using path analysis, we test the model by employing data from a sample of 295 scientists working at an atomic research facility in West Germany. In general, educational level of the scientists has an important, positive impact on productivity; years of service has a varying and more modest positive effect. Rank of the scientist has an intermediate positive impact on productivity; psychological factors have a negligible effect. Finally, the influence the scientist has on his research endeavors has a modest positive impact on productivity.

Notes: Abstract This paper focusses on the use of input indicators as a planning tool for research planners and administrators in one research sector. It reviews the experience of a number of developing countries in attempting to develop such indicators for national agricultural research systems. It appears that the more commonality there is in the research subject and environment, the more disaggregated the input data, research managers would find useful. While the paper reviews only one research sector, it concludes with comments on the feasibility of using similar measures in other sectors.

Notes: Abstract Using the data recently presented byLea Velho on the citation rates in and on Brazilian agricultural journal articles, it is suggested that a given such paper is cited by the non-Brazilian scientific literature at the same rate as a paper written anywhere else in the world would be, and that is cited by other Brazilian papers very much more than a paper elsewhere would be. These conclusions are surprizing in view of the prevailing conventional wisdom, and are also exactly opposite to the conclusionsVelho herself derived from the same data.

Notes: Abstract We examine a newly created data series consisting of the monthly number of American patents granted since 1853. An initial examination divides the series into four time periods. An analysis of short-run cycles demonstrates that the same Box-Jenkins model is not applicable to all four periods. Differences in nineteenth and twentieth century model parameters may be a result of frequent bureaucratic reinterpretations of America's patent law during the last century, or-as many have claimed-may represent changes in the process of innovation itself over time. Our findings suggest that future researchers discriminate between two periods in their analyses. The first lasts until the late 1870's, during which time there was a very high variability in the number of patents issued. Since the late 1870's there has been a substantial decline in variability, and the amount of variance that can be explained by a simple Box-Jenkins model has increased. Still, not much variation can be explained using short-run cycles, and longer cycles appear to be both time period specific and highly unstable. The dynamics of American inventive activity are complex, and inventive activity appears to be largely driven by exogenous factors such as wars, economic conditions and changes in governmental policy, rather than by its own internal dynamics.

Notes: Abstract A modified index of journal standing in a stratified journal to journal citation network is proposed. The original index, generated through an application of input-output analysis, is used as the first step of an iterative procedure that converges on the new index. This index, an eiginvector of the inverted matrix used in the input-output analysis, has improved validity and better distributional properties than the original index.

Notes: Abstract Qantitative analysis of the interrelation of “big” and “little” science on the example of Research and Development of higher education in the USA has been made. The difference in the growth rates of “big” and “little” science is explained with the help of scientometric index of capital expenditures per researcher. An attempt has been made to compare the dynamics of efficiency of “big” and “little” science on the base of mean duration of a research project. Possibilities of an alternative index of a relative amount of preliminary researches (preprojects) are pointed out.

Notes: Abstract In this paper, an attempt has been made to examine the characteristics of research planning at the micrososmic level of the research group in six countries-Argentina, Egypt, India, Republic of Korea, Poland and UkSSR. The paper focusses on the following aspects: (1) intrinsic and extrinsic factors influencing the choice of research themes and orientation of the research programme; (2) quality of research planning measured by dimensions, such as planning consistency, task-interdependence and prior contacts with potential users; and (3) pattern of funding of research groups. Variations in the characteristics of research planning and funding mechanisms in different institutional and socio-cultural settings (countries) have been examined.

Notes: Abstract The nuclear industry was used as a case history to examine the influences between science and industry. The nuclear resources aspect of the industry was chosen for study. A correlation is found among indicators of geoscience research, exploration for uranium ores, production of uranium, and the general state of the industry. Some of the science-industry interfaces were identified as fruitful areas for further study, and a historical analysis of exploration technology shows that a scientific development engendered by the requirements of an early phase of the industry was key to later expansion in exploration and resources discovery.

Notes: Abstract A new method for author groups formation and decay processes is proposed. With the help of a special mathematical model time distribution of authors and their publications was established and group productivity, composition and stability, annual change of the total number of short-term and long-term authors, their renovation etc. as well as the time dependence of these quantities was determined. Particularities of activity of authors working in nuclear physics are investigated. It is shown that the most rapid development in this field took place in the pre-war years, it was at high level up to 1960 and then began to decrease. The method used permits to forecast the development of science and to analyse the activity of author units in particular scientific centers.

Notes: Abstract Applied and basic approaches to scientific inquiry were compared through a bibliometric analysis of two Canadian journals in plant biology. No differences were found between the journals in the distribution of citations across different sections of research articles (that is, Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion). Moreover, no contrasts were found in the frequency of multiple authorships or in the age distribution of cited works. However, the journals differed significantly on three other bibliometric measures: author affiliation, number of references per article, and publication format of cited works.

Notes: Abstract It is shown that characterizing the creative activity by the “aha!” concept the creative processes can be described as singular points of a smooth surface. The cusp catastrophe from the theory of RenéThom is used to describe and to estimate quantitatively the creative process. The behaviour parameter is the flux of empirical laws and the control parameters are the experimental and the theoretical effort. The theoretical effort is the bifurcation parameter.

Notes: Abstract A bibliography of entomological research in Nigeria, 1900–1973 totally 1720 publications was analysed to study the author productivity patterns and to test the applicability of Lotka's law for the obtained distributions. Four different files were generated, one for the publications of all the authors, second for the publications by first authors, third for single authors and fourth for coauthors. Lotka's law in its original form as inverse square law does not apply to any of the four data sets. However, it does apply in its generalised form with the calculated values of characteristic exponent α. The values of α were found to be 1.9, 1.8, 2.2 and 2.4 for the four different data sets. K-S statistical test was aplied to test the applicability of generalised form of Lotka's law. The maximum difference in the observed and estimated values of the proportions of authors was found to be highly insignificant at 0.01 level of significance in each of the four cases.

Notes: Abstract An article by article analysis produced by ISI has been investigated to see whether this form of feedback might be useful to the editors. The data highlight the different roles of two medical journals, which are often regarded as similar. They also allow a parallel examination of the citation pattern of other items besides the standard scientific research articles.

Notes: Abstract During the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), scientific work came to a halt in China. Universities closed, primary and secondary school education shut down, and intellectuals (including scientists and engineers) were sent to the countryside or to factories to work. The effects of the Cultural Revolution are reflected in China's output of scientific literature. In 1973, for example, only one Chinese paper appeared in any of the world's 2300 most central journals covered by theScience Citation Index. After restrictive policies were loosened, however, scientific papers grew exponentially. By 1982, only six years after the Cultural Revolution ended, Chinese scientists produced 932 papers. This exponential growth of papers leveled off at this point and the number of papers appearing in the core 2300 journal stood at approximately 1000 in 1983 and 1984.

Notes: Abstract In the paper science is regarded as a self-adapting system consisting of two subsystems. The stochastic model of one of the subsystems is proposed. The model reflects changes of the structure of a scientific discipline. As an example a model for the physics of elementary particles is presented.

Notes: Abstract Three aspects of inequalities in scientific productivity of research units-scientists within RUs, RUs in the full sample and its cross-section, and an aggregate approach, in which components referring to the first two types of inequality were distinguished—was used to analyse the causes underlying unequall productivity. Using inequality measure based on the theory of information (Theil measure) an inverse relationship between volume of productivity and its inequality was empirically found both within research units and among RUs of a given organizational system. Therefore identifying the soruces of variability of output inequalities may be helpful in drawing conclusions regarding to the absolute volumes of scientific productivity of RUs.

Notes: Abstract The paper analyses the output of the publication data of an Indian laboratory in the field of physics inSCI and nonSCI covered Indian and foreign journals, processes developed and Indian patents filed during the period 1965–82 to find out the pattern of productivity. Looks at the journals wherein the laboratory scientists publish. Also points out the sub-areas of physics in which the laboratory scientists have published maximum papers and also mentions about the pattern of scientific co-authorship in the research work. Correlation coefficients between input variable (manpower and budget) with output variables (number of papers published, processes developed and Indian patents accepted) have been calculated.

Notes: Abstract A linear correlation exists between the Lotka frequency and Zipf rank distribution functions. Relatively good correlation coefficients were found, but slope constants are not consistent with theory. They show that information distributions are not homogeneous and cannot be completely described by two parameter functions.

Notes: Abstract TheDissertation Abstracts database was searched online to study patterns in the growth of scholarship from 1880–1984. The total number of degrees granted per year as well as the number of degrees granted per year in the “hard” sciences, social sciences, and library science seems to be leveling off; the number in fine arts and literature has begun to decline; and the number in information science, computer science, and the health sciences continues to grow. SearchingDissertation Abstracts online offers an efficient and relatively inexpensive way to obtain quantitative data for trend analysis.

Notes: Abstract This paper presents a theoretical framework of the relationships between certain phenomena attendant to an information society, i.e. information explosion, societal information overload, etc. It also attempts to explain and predict the possible effects of these phenomena on information generation, utilization and wastage. A theory of rates of information generation and utilization as well as a wastage ratio is proposed. The initial propositions, axioms and postulates which form the bases of this theory are described in their logical sequence. Hypotheses and conceptual models are also included.

Notes: Abstract In this paper,Nature andScience, the two distinguished multi-disciplinary scientific journals were compared placing emphasis on their internationality. The items investigated were as follows. A general comparison: 1. number of authors per article, 2. distribution of countries to which first authors' institutions belong, 3. distribution of main discplines studied by first authors, 4. time-lag between the date of receipt of an article by the editor and the date of its publication. B. the position with regard to Japanese author: 1. number of Japanese authors, 2. relationship between the ranking of a Japanese author in the list of authors' names and the country where his institution is located, 3. relationship between the time-lag stated in A-4 and the items stated in B-2. As a result, it can be said thatNature is a more highly international journal thanScience.

Notes: Abstract This paper examines the contributions given in theSource Book in Astronomy and Astrophysics 1900–1975 with respect to the question: how old were the authors at the time of their greatest achievements? As average value of the age of the authors at the time of the publication we find A=39.8±10.9 years and a little difference for more empirical and the theoretical papers.

Notes: Abstract This study is a count of the publications of a sample of the major pharmaceutical multinational companies. These firms have been divided into three geopolitical groups: Europe, the United States and Japan. Results obtained show that research activities in this industry have been subjected to some changes between 1965 and 1979. Among these changes is the growing importance of fundamental research, the erosion of the leadership of U.S.-based firms and the growing importance of overseas research.

Notes: Abstract An attempt is made for the survey and classification of bibliometric indicators applicable for assessment of publication performance of researchers active in natural sciences. Indicators can be classified as publication and citation ones which may refer to impact and quantity of publication activity of researcher(s), teams, institutes or countries. Taking into account the possible reference standards, the indicators are classified as simple, specific, balance, distribution and relative ones. In order to evaluate publication activity both qualitatively and quantitatively, relative citation indicators can be recommended, which relate citations received to the sum of impact factors of the journals, where the papers were published or give the relative measure of the average citedness of papers related to that of papers in journals in a similar subfield.

Notes: Abstract The right tail of the Bradford distribution has been considered to be straight or drooping. This paper reports cases in which the right tail is rising upward, explains and verifies conditions of its occurrences, interpretes it and proposes its application to evaluation and forecasting of technological development at the basic research stage.

Notes: Abstract This section ofScientometrics will carry fresh and reliable news of people, progress, recent and forthcoming meetings and publications etc. Its effectiveness depends greatly on your assistance. Items for inclusion should be submitted to the Coordinating Editor, Dr. J.Farkas.

Notes: Abstract Mexico and Hungary carried out a survey of their national S & T potential in 1985–86, under the framework of the UNESCO International Comparative Study on the Organization and Performance of Research Units (ICSOPRU). A set of questionnaires were administered to heads of research institutions, heads of research units, and core members of research units. Comparison between both S & T systems shows that science is in a more advanced development stage in Hungary than in Mexico. The Hungarian scientific infrastructure is larger than the Mexican one by a factor of four. Also, science as an organized body of researchers is older in Hungary than in Mexico. Science in Hungary is more practically oriented than in Mexico. The S & T system in Hungary has strong links with the productive sector and hance gets substantial support from it. Mexican science, in contrast, is not strongly related to the productive sector, and does not get much financial support from it. Hungarian science is more internationally oriented. Hungarian researchers publish more than Mexican researchers, although a fraction of Mexican units have a publication rate comparable to highly productive Hungarian units. Both S & T systems have many needs in terms of human and material resources for work over the next four to six years. In-depth analysis of available data will shed more light about the S & T potential of both countries.

Notes: Abstract This paper describes recent developments in the co-word method and illustrates, for the case of acid rain research, the way in which the method can be used to detect (a) the themes of research to be found in a given area of science, (b) the relationships between those themes, (c) the extent to which they are central to the area in question and (d) the degree to which they are internally structured. It is also suggested that the method may be used to draw comparative research profiles for different countries. Though the data used are only preliminiary, it is argued that the method has now been developed to the point where its results are both quite robust and easily assimilable. It is, accordingly, now an appropriate tool for policy analysis.

Notes: Abstract A bibliometric analysis was made of an area of veterinary research, avian virology, in the context of seeking quantitative indicators to assist research evaluation for the UK Agricultural and Food Research Council (AFRC). In one approach, a list was made of world publications in avian virology using the CAB database which is the most appropriate literature source in terms of subject specificity and breadth of coverage. Means were sought to minimise the labour input required for citation studies of this kind; results based on peak-year citations only were similar to those from the more widely used four-year count, in terms of country-ranking and time trends. In the second method, the publication outputs of several avian virology research groups were assessed in terms of ‘expected’ citations i.e. the average number of citations per paper received by the journals in which the groups published, as compared to the actual citations received. The rankings of the groups were the same in both methods. This second approach, while giving only approximate citation rates, has the advantage of requiring only in-house data. It seems more appropriate for the ex-post evaluation of the output of research groups in the context of agricultural and food research, and it is suggested that further studies on journal-based indicators are warranted.

Notes: Abstract It is shown that the mean number of authors per paper or the proportion of the multiple-authored papers is inadequate as a measure of the degree of collaboration in a discipline. A measure which combines some of the merits of both measures is suggested and derived. This measure, called the Collaborative Coefficient, is derived for four commonly used probability distributions.

Notes: Abstract In the present work an attempt is made to select journal bases for some subfields in chemistry. Through the modification of the Hirst's discioline impact factor concept, theprimary information base for the selected subfields is detenained. Relating impact factors of citing and cited journals,citation strategy indicators are suggested. Determination of the mean impact factors for subfields enables the introduction ofsubfields factors that bring the impact factors of journals of various subfields on a comparavle level.

Notes: Abstract Applications of fuzzy set theory to various problems of data processing influenced greatly the analysis of expert opinion results. The authors developed models based on the fuzzy set concept for expert assessments using quantitative and qualitative scales typical in R & D management. The approach is illustrated by the solution of the problem of ranking of the factors influencing practical applications of research results.

Notes: Abstract A method of measuring the communication in a network of research institutions i presented. The method is based on the determination of the subject similarity of research reports. The requests of the users are taken into account. The hierarchic cluster analysis of communication in the network is fulfilled on the base of the fuzzy binary relations of similarity between objects.

Notes: Abstract We suggest some theoretical considerations concerning parastatistical distribution of the number of journals by the number of articles which they contain (structural units). Our experiments agree with the theoretical conclusions with accuracy up to 0.31%, and withPrice's experiments — with accuracy of 0.7%. The qualitive agreement of the theoretical model suggested is shown withBonitz's experiments. The agreement of the theory and the experiment is discussed and it is shown that the model suggested describes the Groos effect, i. e. it introduces a correction to the Bradford law.

Notes: Abstract Publication and citation indicators of groups are thought to enhance the quality and legitimacy of science policy decisions. While these indicators might be of value from a policy pont of view, the relation between these cumulative data and the local circumstances that influence the development of scientific knowledge has not been explored extensively. In this paper it is argued that publication and citation patterns related to research units are influenced by local circumstances. Toxicology is chosen as an example because it is directed at solving social problems and relates to local practices. In this paper, output indicatiors of Dutch toxicological research units are related to qualitative information on the strategies of these units. it can be shown that the variation in output and citation indicators can be explained in terms of local variations in context. Such variations in local organizational settings should caution against the application of scientometric studies to measure impact as an indicator of scientific quality.

Notes: Abstract This paper presents a methodological analysis of the latest update of the CHI/NSF Science Literature Indicators Data-Base. The data-base contains a range of publication and citation indicators borken down by country and field or subfield, and now convers the period from 1973 to 1984. It can be used to draw comparisons of the changing output and impact of basic research in different countries. Earlier applications of the data-base have been constrained by various technical limitations, and have been subject to certain criticism. In this article, after some conceptual analysis of what aspects of scientific performance the different indicators relate to, we show that much of the criticism is misplaced. We also describe subsequent methodological improvements to the indicators and the effect these have on the policy use that can be made. Finally, we examine what the latest statistics reveal about the relative international standing of seven leading scientific nations.

Notes: Abstract An evaluation was made of the use of bibliometric indicators for five disciplines in the humanities (social history, general linguistics, general literature, Dutch literature, and Dutch language) and three disciplines in the social and behavioural sciences (experimental psychology, anthropology, and public administration) in the Netherlands. Articles in journals were the predominant outlet in all disciplines. Monographs and popularizing articles were more important outlets in ‘softer’ fields than in ‘harder’ ones. The enlightenment function of scholarship was especially evident in Dutch literature and language, and public administration. Only some of the humanities disciplines are locally oriented. Although many publications were written in English, only experimental psychology, general linguistics, anthropology, and genrral literature were internationally oriented regarding output media. The impact of departments differed greatly both within and between disciplines. For all disciplines, bibliometric indicators are potentially useful for monitoring international impact, as expert interviews confirmed. Especially in Dutch language, Dutch literature and public administration, ISI-citation data are not very useful for monitoring national impact.

Notes: Abstract A severe criticism against the use of citation indicators for the measurement of a research group's performance holds that these indicators reflect at least partly the size of the scientific activity in the subfield or topic in which the group works. In this contribution an attempt is made to substantiate this claim within the framework of Price's theory on the processes of knowledge growth. Empirical evidence is presented that among a number of subfields from the natural and life sciences significant differences exist with respect to Price's index, and that the citation scores of research groups tend to be high in subfields showing a high value of Price's index and other characteristics of reference patterns. These findings suggest that groups sharing an intellectual focus with other researchers tend to obtain higher citation scores than groups working more ‘on their own’.

Notes: Abstract Titles of 925 conference papers contained in the first ten International Teletraffic Conferences (1955–1983) are analyzed in terms of word distributions. The aim is to determine how information about changing word frequencies and word patterns relates to the kind of information gained through the more traditional approach of intellectual history. Additionally, we consider what each approach can reveal about the information flows involved in the production and utilization of knowledge in teletraffic. In terms of methodology, the goal of this dual approach is to understand how the analysis of word and document structures can be used both as a scientometric tool and as a tool for historical research. We also comment more generally on the significance of conferences as an object for scientometric analysis, particularly with respect to the emergence and growth of the engineering and industrial sciences.

Notes: Abstract This section ofScientometrics will carry fresh and reliable news of people, programs, recent and forthcoming meetings and publications etc. Its effectiveness depends greatly on your assistance. Items for inclusion should be submitted to the Co-ordinating Editor, Dr.J. Farkas.

Notes: Abstract The distribution of Mexican health science publications according to the states of origin, institutions, main cities has been measured in four main health science bibliographic databases. The results showed that Mexican health sciences research activities are highly skewed.

Notes: Abstract Most of the scientific and technical databases contain codes. These codes divide the area of the database field in subfields. These divisions can be used to map automatically the research network of a subject, and to provide its main research poles. The present paper explains the methodology, and applies it toChemical Abstracts, and to the analysis of the research production of various academic institutions. The method is general and can be used with other databases such as Inspec, WPI-WPIL, etc...

Notes: Abstract This paper presents some results of the first studies done in the country using information from patents applied for in Cuba by national and foreign entities. Its main objective is to demonstrate the potential usefulness of this source of data, and of the types of analysis used for the elaboration of diagnoses, as well as for the description of some tendencies of national innovation and R+D efforts. The most relevant technological fields, the participation of the countries during the period and the intensity of their activity in those fields were the aspects studied.

Notes: Abstract The technique of sampling a department'sk best publications as a means of assessing the quality of its research performance is investigated. It is shown that this procedure confounds merit with departmental size, and leads to a substantial overestimation of the research achievement of larger departments. The 1985–86 evaluation of research performance conducted by the University Grants Committee of the United Kingdom contained a sampling error of this kind.

Notes: Abstract This section ofScientometrics will carry fresh and reliable news people, programs, recent and forthcoming meetings and publications, etc. Its effectiveness depends greatly on your assistance. Items for inclusion should be submitted to the Co-ordinating Editor, Dr.J. Farkas.

Notes: Abstract Is is shown, using rigorous statistical tests, that the number of journals (J) carryingp papers in a given subject can be expressed as a simple power law functionJ(p)=K p −γ , K and γ being constants. The standard maximum likelihood method of estimating γ has been suitably modified to take acoount of the fact thatp is a discrete integer variable. The parameter γ entirely characterises the scatter of articles in journals in a given bibliography. According to a dynamic model proposed earlier by the author, γ is a measure of the relative growth rates of papers and journals pertaining to the subject.

Notes: Abstract This paper examines the following basic issues of leadership in research units: (1) characteristics of the leader and the functions performed by him that predict the image of his quality; and (2) the role of leadership in enhancing the performance of the research unit. Analysis is based on data collected on 1460 research units in six countries for the second round of International Comparative Study on Organization and Performance of Research Units. Variations in the characteristics and role of leadership in different institutional settings and countries are analyzed through POSCOR (ranking programme based on partially ordered sets). Stepwise multiple regression analysis was used to examine the common pattern of relationship of various indices of leadership with the image of leader's quality and three measures of effectiveness — scientific, user-oriented and administrative. Analysis was repeated for each country to explore the stability in the pattern of relationships and to identify universal indices that have consistent relationships across countries. Implications of the results are discussed.

Notes: Abstract Some theoretical connections with Bradford's law of scattering of articles in journals have been note to substantiate the completely empirical linear formula,R(r)=a.r−b wherer is the rank of a class of journals in increasing productivity,R is a typical function, called “mean relative scatter” (MRS), of the class rankr, a andb are arbitrary constants. It is also shown that an exponential formula can be transformed to the linear one, thereby explicating certain constants and co-efficients of Bradford's formula and the proposed one.

Notes: Abstract Ranking lists of periodicals in different scientific disciplines are generally based on the total number of citations derived from a group of source journals with equal weightage given to all citations irrespective of chronology. As a result, in all these ranking lists, the position occupied by the post-war journals, may not be an accurate index of their demand or usefulness to research workers in the concerned field. This may happen because the quantum of published literature in the new journals is limited by the period for which they have been in existence, which is in many cases less than 20 years. Moreover, many of the post-war journals appearing in all these recent ranking lists have started publication even after 1960s, and their enumerated citations cover in fact a variable period of less than 20 years unlike in the case of pre-war journals. To avoid such discriminating against new journals which necessarily have fewer citation credits Sengupta suggested earlier an off-setting weightage formula which has been applied in this paper to rerank microbiology periodicals. A revised ranking list in the field of microbiology has been recommended in preference to the earlier one compiled by Sengupta. Results and findings, after application of the weightage formula, have been presented and discussed in this paper.

Notes: Abstract Knowledge and literature of neuroscience started growing steadily during the last few centuries. This paper aims to study the growth of knowledge in neuroscience as well as its literature. The first part of the paper, enumerates a historical survey of the growth of knowledge based on published data. This is done in view of the fact that a consolidated information at one place will be of great value to the students of scientometrics and also to the research scholars who are desirous to undertake research in this discipline. The second part of the paper is entirely based on experimental data which were collected to analyse the growth of literature of the subject. Neuroscience is notable for its wide range of approaches and techniques. In no other branch of research such a manysided approach is so essential. As a consequence last few decades have witnessed an accelerated research tempo and unprecedented growth of the literature on the subject covering its different sub-fields with gradual and systematic transgression of the conventional boundaries between them. To cope with the growth of literature, a new bibliometric technique has been applied to rank periodicals in the field based on 5785 citation data collected from the bibliographic data base published in the source journal namely,Annual Review of Neuroscience. It is expected that this list will reflect the impact of literature on the advancement of knowledge in the field of neuroscience. A striking feature of this study is the comparatively small contribution (8.8%) coming from the application of biochemical techniques and concepts to neuroscience research which differs from what we had noted earlier in the case of other biomedical disciplines. High position occupied by multidisciplinary science journals brings out the significance of new neuroscience research to science as a whole and confirms the importance of this category of journals in the dissemination of knowledge for the overall growth of science. Relatively low proportion, of citations of journals of medicine, both general as well as specialities, in spite of direct relevance of much work in this field to neurological and mental illness reflects the preponderance of interest in the funcamental aspects of neuroscience research. Like other biomedical disciplines neuroscience literature also exhibits English as the most-preferred lingua franca of the subject; dominance of journals published from USA, UK, Germany and the Netherland; a wide scatter of cited literature showing the multidisciplinary approach characteristic of present-day neuroscience research. The results of this study support Bradford's Law of Scattering and also Sengupta's Law of Bibliometrics. It is expected that the present ranking list will be of great help to the working neuroscientists to select a handful of core periodicals in the field for regular browsing from the viewpoint of their importance and significance as these core journals identify maximum segment of contemporary literature on the topics of direct relevance to their day to day research in the field.

Notes: Abstract The present paper examines the multiple authorship in research papers in biomedical sciences from the more basic aspects to clinically oriented research. Seventeen journals were chosen for analysis — nine from the general and life sciences categories and eight from medical sciences group with clinical orientation. All these were “high impact” journals as per the Science Citation Index and come in the top ten journals in their respective desciplines. The average authors/paper was significantly higher (P〈0.001) in medical journals −4.299 (range 3.21–5.35) as compared to general biomedical journals −3.298 (range 3.21–5.35). Data from highly cited papers (1961–78) also indicate that papers in clinical sciences have higher average authors (2.71) as compared to preclinical basic research (2.25: P〈0.26) and more basic research areas like biochemistry and molecular biology (2.208; P〈0.02). The team size in research in clinical subjects is therefore appreciably larger as compared to basic biomedical sciences. Also the general and biomedical sciences articles were relatively longer (average 7.75 pages; range 2.69–10.07) as compared to medical papers with a clinical orientation (avarage 4.24 pages; range 1.80–12.92; P〈0.001).

Notes: Abstract The merits and shortcomings of bibliometric evaluation techniques are well known; the reliability of the techniques varies according to the discipline. For technology the reliability is small. The electron microscope is a clear case of extreme mismatch between the number of citations received and the impact of the instrument in a wide area of science. The instrument is comparable to a scientific publication in the way in which it is used and referred to in the literature. In this paper we estimate the size of the citation gap, i.e. the number of citations an author misses because the results of his research are made public in the form of an instrument instead of via an article in a journal.

Notes: Abstract Using data collected for a sample of 69 Dutch physicists, the present study employs a multivariate approach in order to re-examine the Ortega hypothesis. Stated succinctly, the Ortega hypothesis maintains that, in large measure, science has progressed through the efforts of many quite average scientists. Based on a combined citation search of 2763 source and reference authors, eminent scientists are shown to cite other eminent scientists, although not to the extent reported among American physicists in earlier research by theColes. The tendency for eminent scientists to cite other eminent scientists is a rather recent occurrence in The Netherlands, and may signal a major trend in the differential allocation of facilities and resources which, in turn, impact on the development of science in that country. In addition to the citation rate of source author's year of article's publication and length of source author's professional experience, are also shown to be significantly related to the eminence of reference authors cited, thereby signaling caution concerning rejection of the Ortega hypothesis.

Notes: Abstract The following kinds of data were collected on three samples of cancer research literature representing three levels of quality: (1) collaboration as measured by the number of authors per paper, (2) quantitative productivity of countries, (3) diachronous citations covering the first five years of publication, (4) total self-citations, (5) proportions of self-citations made by first-named authors, and (6) the extent of dispersion of articles among journals. Analyses showed that as the number of authors per paper increases, the proportion of high quality papers also increases and the Collaborative Index can be used to measure quality in the aggregate. It was found that the quantity and quality of cancer research done in a country are positively related. All analyses of the citation data confirmed the hypotheses that highly rated papers are significantly more highly cited than average papers and the rates of uncitedness decline with quality. The proportion of self-citations to total citations decreases with increasing quality and, on average, first-named authors of quality papers cite them proportionally fewer times than first-named authors of run-of-the mill papers do. This study also shows that, as quality increases, the extent of literature scatter or dispersion increases.

Notes: Abstract The origin of information for 5 genetics journals was traced for the years 1975, 1978 and 1982. Maps of the interrelationships between cited journals indicate that the information for genetics journals originates with the biochemical journals and passes down to the genetics journals via the multidisciplinary science journals. The 5 genetics journals can be divided into 2 levels: Level 1 — those journals that never cite each other but cite level 2 journals; Level 2 — those journals that serve as a source of information for level 1 journals. The use of level 2 journals by level 1 journals declines from 1975 to 1982 because of a decline in citations by two of the level 1 journals.

Notes: Abstract It is widely maintained that the study of policy alternatives, particularly if they are associated with introducing new tehcnologies that may engender vast social and environmental repercussions, ought to be interdisciplinary. There is, however, much confusion in the literature as to what exactly is meant by the term interdisciplinary. In the present paper, we quantitatively assess the extent of interdisciplinarity of studies and of research programs. First, we propose several working definitions of the concept of interdisciplinarity. Second, we consider the construction of indicators that quantify these definitions. Third, as an example, we examine whether or not a given policy oriented research program is truly interdisciplinary.

Notes: Abstract Study of interdisciplinary research processes and performance is hampered by a lack of data. This project investigated possible indicators based in the open scientific literature to measure such processes. Focusing on theJournal Citation Reports as a suitable data base, alternative indicators were validated on a sample of 383 articles drawn from 19 journals. The results support the use ofCitations Outside Category as an indicator of cross-disciplinary research activity. An estimated version of this indicator is used to examine three research categories — Demography, Operations Research/Management Science, and Toxicology — as to the extent of cross-disciplinary citation occurring by the journals in these categories and to them. Results suggest thatCitations Outside Category can be a quite informative bibliometric measure. A key substantive finding is that citation across broad field categories (engineering, life sciences, physical sciences, and social sciences) is extremely infrequent.

Notes: Abstract The theoretical introductions in empirical journal articles have been analyzed looking for factors determining citation habits. Own-country-biases and English-American predominance in citations were not regularly found. Preferred language of the cited publications and absolute citation frequencies were dependent upon both the disciplines and the countries where the journals are published. However, relative citation frequencies (citations related to the length of the text available) have been found to be rather constant across countries (within psychology and psychiatry, respectively) which indicates no such dependence.

Notes: Abstract The hypothesis proposed by the author expresses that Zipf's law is only fulfilled on rank distributions which correspond to highly integrated (closed) subject fields. This hypothesis was tested on vast amount of empirical data. It was shown that document files in integrated fields are characterised by thematic, chronological (and sometimes geographical) closedness, as well as closedness by citation. Relationships were found between empirical facts usually considered in isolation within the frameworks of different scientometric and bibliometric theories (the theory of information concentration and scattering, obsolescence theory, theory of changing source productivity).

Notes: Abstract This paper reports part of a historical study of insecticide development. We analysed accumulated references to specific insecticide groups in text books, and index references to a large number of specific insecticides in theReview of Applied Entomology (Ser. A) over the period 1916–70. The paper describes our techniques for analysing the resulting research publication growth curves for these compounds. Our data did not fit the “classical” S-curves, and possible explanations for this are discussed. Bibliometric time series data may exhibit various inconsistencies, and we describe an approach to handling such “dirty data”. We concluded that; our quantitative approach produces a picture of the development of insecticides that fits the accepted view derived by qualitative historiography, is very sensitive to trends in pesticide research, and might be a useful adjunct to technology forecasting as well as to historical studies.

Notes: Abstract This note presents evidence for the surprising conclusion that a citation to a multiple-authored article is worth more to its author than a citation to a single-authored article.

Notes: Abstract Previous attempts to map science using the co-citation clustering methodology are reviewed, and their shortcomings analyzed. Two enhancements of the methodology presented in Part I of the paper-fractional citation counting and variable level clustering—are briefly described and a third enhancement, the iterative clustering of clusters, is introduced. When combined, these three techniques improve our ability to generate comprehensive and representative mappings of science across the multidisciplinaryScience Citation Index (SCI) data base. Results of a four step analysis of the 1979SCI are presented, and the resulting map at the fourth iteration is described in detail. The map shows a tightly integrated network of approximate disciplinary regions, unique in that for the first time links between mathematics and biomedical science have brought about a closure of the previously linear arrangement of disciplines. Disciplinary balance between biomedical and physical science has improved, and the appearance of less cited subject areas, such as mathematics and applied science, makes this map the most comprehensive one yet produced by the co-citation methodology. Remaining problems and goals for future work are discussed.

Notes: Abstract This section ofScientometrics will carry fresh and reliable news of people, programs, recent and forthcoming meetings and publications, etc. Its effectiveness depends greatly on your assistance. Items for inclusion should be submitted to the Coordinating Editor, Dr.J. Farkas.

Notes: Abstract Studies on the life-span of past scientists according to data of theChronicle of Major Events of Natural Sciences have found that the age of optimum peak value of scientific discovery is about half the peak value of their life-span. Achievements of those scientists who made a name before 25 years old are 44 percent more than average and their life efficiency is 1.7 times that of the average. Therefore it is an effective measure to train prococious scientists for a nation in her strive to catch up with or surpass world level in science.

Notes: Abstract This paper reports an investigation into the referencing pattern of Brazilian agricultural scientists. The study was based on the use of both quantitative data-citations appearing in a sizeable sample of articles published by these scientists—and qualitative data-interviews with a large number of scientists who authored the source, papers. The aim was to explore the extent to which citation counts may be taken as valid indicators of the quality, influence or impact of published scientific knowledge in the general context of a scientifically peripheral country. The findings presented confirm the view that in this context, citation patterns are significantly influenced by factors “external” to the scientific realm and, thus, reflect neither simply the quality, influence nor even the impact of the research work referred to.

Notes: Abstract This section ofScientometrics will carry fresh and reliable news of people, programs, recent and forthcoming meetings and publications etc. Its effectiveness depends greatly on your assistance. Items for inclusion should be submitted to the Coordinating Editor, Dr. J.Farkas.

Notes: Abstract Measurement of the effectiveness of science policies is analyzed as a multi-level problem. Journal-journal citations are discussed as a potential candidate for a domain beyond the control of policy-makers and authors or research groups and therefore may function as a relatively stable and easily accessible baseline for the ‘calibration’ of outputs and outcomes of science policy. A method is developed, usingSCPsJCRs which is then applied to the two cases of water pollution and humanisation of labor. This method can also be used as a simple indicator for the development of journal-journal citation patterns over time.

Notes: Abstract Brannigan andWanner argue that the empirical distribution of multiple grades can be more adequately explained in terms of a negative contagious poisson model. This alternative is based on a Zeitgeist theory which places emphasis on the role of communication in scientific discovery. Nonetheless, a detailed analysis indicates the following: (a) mathematically, the simple Poisson is the limiting case of the contagious Poisson when the contagion parameter approaches zero; (b) empirically, the mean and variance are so nearly equal (i. e., the contagion effect is very small) that predictions from the contagious Poisson are virtually equivalent to those of the simple Poisson; (c) in particular, both distributions predict that multiples are less common than singletons and even nulltons, the latter occurring with a probability of over one third (thereby implying that chance plays a much bigger part than Zeitgeist or maturational theories would suggest); (d) estimates from theSimonton, Merton, andOgburn-Thomas data sets all concur that the contagion effect is not only small, but positive besides, yielding a modest positive contagious Poisson that contradicts the principal tenet of the communication interpretation.

Notes: Abstract This section ofScientometrics will carry fresh and reliable news of people, progress, recent and forthcoming meetings and publications etc. Its effectiveness depends greatly on your assistance. Items for inclusion should be submitted to the Coordinating Editor, Dr. J.Farkas.

Notes: Abstract A schematic overview of the formal communication process is first presented. Emphasis is placed only on the specific functions and participants required to transfer article manuscripts from the author to the reader of scientific journals. For the description of this process a mathematical model based on generalized nets (GN) is then proposed. Some advantages of the GN as compared to other models are shown. Model application is not included since the programme package which realizes the GN is in a stage of preparation.

Notes: Abstract A new indicator, called thepublication potential, is proposed to measure scientific strength of different countries. The indicator is based onSCI author counts and publication frequency distributions. Not depending on national statistical reports, it avoids the ambiguities of statistical definitions and methods, thereby providing a solid ground for cross-national comparisons. Publication based and statistical survey data for 34 countries are compared and some of the most conspicuous discrepancies are pinpointed.

Notes: Abstract A longitudinal study of ten Mexican research areas was carried out in the late 1970s. In the study, research institutions were classified by a group of experts as primary and secondary, depending on the quality and quantity of research output. New institutions created during this time period were also classified as primary or secondary. Examination of the data shows a greater growth in the number of research personnel in primary institutions, evidence of uneven distribution of resources. Furthermore, due to the high turnover of qualified personnel observed in secondary institutions, they are at a disadvantage in forming mature, stable research groups, and are often precluded from becoming first rate research center. Since the national science and technology system does not facilitate the movement of institutions from secondary to primary positions, it is recommended that whenever a new institution is created, it should be provided with appropriate resources, both human and material, to make sure it will be considered as first rank from its inception. Also, in order to reduce the gap between primary and secondary institutions, long range strategies, including the provision of high quality researchers, should be developed to facilitate the upgrading of the secondary institutions.

Notes: Abstract This paper presents the results of a study of Britain's scientific performance in the fields of ocean currents and protein crystallography carried out for the Advisory Board for the Research Councils (ABRC). Using a range of publication and citation indicators, the study aimed to explore the potential value to science policy-making of low-cost scientometric approaches to research evaluation.

Notes: Abstract Cross-field comparison ofscientometric indicators 1 is severely hindered by the differences in publication and citation habits of science fields. However, relating publication and citation indicators to proper field-specific reference standards,relative indicators can be built, which may prove rather useful in the comparative assessment of scientists, groups, institutions or countries. The use ofrelational charts in displaying the indicators broadens the scope of such assessments. Relative indicators of chemistry research in 25 countries are presented as an illustrative example.

Notes: Abstract A method of using of commonly available online services for bibliometric studies is demonstrated. Distributions of papers by subfield, time, author and journal can be generated almost instantly and at very low cost. This article gives information on how to perform such studies.

Notes: Abstract A viewpoint is given, according to which, addivitity may be defined only at the intuition level and quantitative latent variables are “origin additive”. The proposed solution to the non-additivity problem consists in restricting quantitative indicator scales by the so-called “natural”, in particular, open scales.

Notes: Abstract A rigorous analysis of Bradford's law is made using an index for the observed values of the variables. Three important properties relating size and frequency are identified. Using this approach, the shape of Bradford-type curves can be described in terms of three distinct regions and two shape parameters.

Notes: Abstract The behaviour of information flows in different subfields of muticomponent polymer systems was compared for the years 1979 and 1983. The classification used enabled the maximum information on the species of polymer compositions to concisely be recorded. It was established that the information flows in the subfields of multicomponent polymer systems obeyed the law of literature scatter. In 1979 and 1983 about half of the total number of papers dealt with two species of polymer compositions: homopolymer blends and filled homopolymers. About 40% of species described in publications of 1979 did not appear either in journals or in proceedings of 1983. But new species accounted for 60% of the information flow in 1983.

Notes: Abstract This section ofScientometrics will carry fresh and reliable news of people, programs, recent and forthcoming meetings and publications etc. Its effectiveness depends greatly on your assistance. Items for inclusion should be submitted to the Co-ordinating Editor, Dr. J.Farkas.