Science systems

Building on previous published work we continue our exploration of these interdependencies of the science system as a landscape characterized by field-specific citation densities.

Introduction

Science can be considered as a system of highly interconnected entities (e.g., individual publications, researchers, research groups, universities) that produce and transfer knowledge (‘cognitive ecosystem’). Particularly important in such complex, large networked systems are the relations between large-scale attributes (,e.g., characteristics of fields) and local patterns (e.g., the performance of individual groups).

Most complex networks are the result of a growth process. This is certainly the case for science with its increase of more than a million publications and twenty million citations each year. Topological properties of complex network systems are the fingerprints of the evolution of the system though these properties themselves may remain remarkably constant.

Interdependencies of the science system

There is a long history of the construction of bibliometric indicators and there is ample recent work on the use of publication and citation data in the study of author-, publication- and citation-networks in science. But there is little work on the mutual coherence of bibliometric indicators and their statistical properties in the context of science as an interconnected system. Building on previous published work we continue our exploration of these interdependencies of the science system as a landscape characterized by field-specific citation densities.

More information

More information of the staff affiliated to this theme, and their publications can be found on the CWTS research website.