How to investigate the historical roots and evolution of research fields in China? A case study on iMetrics using RootCite

Li, X; Yao, Q; Tang, X; Li, Q; Wu, M

How to investigate the historical roots and evolution of research fields in China? A case study on iMetrics using RootCite

Li, X Yao, Q Tang, X Li, Q Wu, M

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Publisher:: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Scientometrics, 2020, 125, (2), pp. 1253-1274
Issue Date:: 2020-11-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Li, X
dc.contributor.author	Yao, Q
dc.contributor.author	Tang, X
dc.contributor.author	Li, Q
dc.contributor.author	Wu, M https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3956-7808
dc.date.accessioned	2021-03-04T03:09:14Z
dc.date.available	2021-03-04T03:09:14Z
dc.date.issued	2020-11-01
dc.identifier.citation	Scientometrics, 2020, 125, (2), pp. 1253-1274
dc.identifier.issn	0138-9130
dc.identifier.issn	1588-2861
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/146760
dc.description.abstract	© 2020, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary. This paper aimed to provide an approach to investigate the historical roots and evolution of research fields in China by extending the reference spectroscopy year spectroscopy (RPYS). RootCite, an open source software accepts raw data from both the Web of Science and the China Social Science Citation Index (CSSCI), was developed using python. We took iMetrics in China as the research case. 5141 Chinese iMetrics related publications with 73 376 non-distinct cited references (CR) collected from the CSSCI were analyzed using RootCite. The results showed that the first CR in the field can be dated back to 1882 and written in English; but the majority (64.2%) of the CR in the field were Chinese publications. 17 peaks referring to 18 seminal works (13 in English and 5 in Chinese) were located during the period from 1900 to 2017. The field shared the same roots with that in the English world (e.g., Lotka’s law and Garfield’s “Citation Indexes”) but has its own characteristics, and it was then shaped by contributions from both the English world (e.g., Small’s “Co-citation” and Callon et al.’s “Co-word analysis”) and China (e.g., Qiu’s “Bibliometrics” and Su’s “CSSCI”). The three Chinese works have played irreplaceable and positive roles in the historical evolutionary path of the field, which should not be ignored, especially for the evolution of the field. This research demonstrated how RootCite aided the task of identifying the origin and evolution of research fields in China, which could be valuable for extending RPYS for countries with other languages.
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Springer Science and Business Media LLC
dc.relation.ispartof	Scientometrics
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1007/s11192-020-03659-3
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.subject	0807 Library and Information Studies, 1605 Policy and Administration
dc.subject.classification	Science Studies
dc.title	How to investigate the historical roots and evolution of research fields in China? A case study on iMetrics using RootCite
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	125
utslib.for	0807 Library and Information Studies
utslib.for	1605 Policy and Administration
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
dc.date.updated	2021-03-04T03:09:13Z
pubs.issue	2
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	125
utslib.citation.issue	2

Abstract:

© 2020, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary. This paper aimed to provide an approach to investigate the historical roots and evolution of research fields in China by extending the reference spectroscopy year spectroscopy (RPYS). RootCite, an open source software accepts raw data from both the Web of Science and the China Social Science Citation Index (CSSCI), was developed using python. We took iMetrics in China as the research case. 5141 Chinese iMetrics related publications with 73 376 non-distinct cited references (CR) collected from the CSSCI were analyzed using RootCite. The results showed that the first CR in the field can be dated back to 1882 and written in English; but the majority (64.2%) of the CR in the field were Chinese publications. 17 peaks referring to 18 seminal works (13 in English and 5 in Chinese) were located during the period from 1900 to 2017. The field shared the same roots with that in the English world (e.g., Lotka’s law and Garfield’s “Citation Indexes”) but has its own characteristics, and it was then shaped by contributions from both the English world (e.g., Small’s “Co-citation” and Callon et al.’s “Co-word analysis”) and China (e.g., Qiu’s “Bibliometrics” and Su’s “CSSCI”). The three Chinese works have played irreplaceable and positive roles in the historical evolutionary path of the field, which should not be ignored, especially for the evolution of the field. This research demonstrated how RootCite aided the task of identifying the origin and evolution of research fields in China, which could be valuable for extending RPYS for countries with other languages.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/146760