Skip to main content
Log in

Indicators of structural change in the dynamics of science: Entropy statistics of the SCI Journal Citation Reports

  • Published:
Scientometrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Can change in citation patterns among journals be used as an indicator of structural change in the organization of the sciences? Aggregated journal-journal citations for 1999 are compared with similar data in the Journal Citation Reports1998 of the Science Citation Index. In addition to indicating local change, probabilistic entropy measures enable us to analyze changes in distributions at different levels of aggregation. The results of various statistics are discussed and compared by elaborating the journal-journal mappings. The relevance of this indicator for science and technology policies is further specified

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bar-Hillel, Y. (1955), An examination of information theory, Phil. Sci. 22: 86-105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burt, Ronald S. (1982), Toward a Structural Theory of Action. Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doreian, P. (1986), A revised measure of standing of journals in stratified networks, Scientometrics, 11: 63-72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doreian, P., T. J. Fararo (1985), Structural equivalence in a journal network, Journal of the American Society of Information Science, 36: 28-37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frenken, K., L. Leydesdorff (2000), Scaling trajectories in civil aircraft (1913–1997), Research Policy, 29 (3): 331-348.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fujigaki, Y. (1998), Filling the gap between discussions on science and scientists' everyday activities: applying the autopoiesis system theory to scientific knowledge, Social Science Information, 37: 5-22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garfield, E. (1990), How ISI selects journals for coverage: Quantitative and qualitative considerations, Current Contents (28 May): 5-13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kostoff, R. N., H. J. Eberthart, D. R. Toothman, R. Pellenberg (1997), Database tomography for technical intelligence: Comparative roadmaps of the research impact assessment literature and the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Scientometrics, 40 (1): 103-134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Latour, B. (1987), Science in Action. Open University Press, Milton Keynes.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leydesdorff, L. (1986), The development of frames of reference, Scientometrics, 9: 103-125.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leydesdorff, L. (1987), Various methods for the mapping of science, Scientometrics, 11: 291-320.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leydesdorff, L. (1994), Een Scientometrische Verekenning van de Biotechnologie. Rapport in opdracht van de Overlegcommissie Verkenningen (OCV), Amsterdam.

  • Leydesdorff, L.(1989), Words and co-words as indicators of intellectual organization, Research Policy, 18: 209-223.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leydesdorff, L. (1995), The Challenge of Scientometrics: The development, measurement, and self-organization of scientific communications. DSWO Press/Leiden University, Leiden, at http://www.upublish.com/books/leydesdorff-sci.htm

    Google Scholar 

  • Leydesdorff, L. (1998), Theories of citation?, Scientometrics, 43 (1): 5-25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leydesdorff, L. (2001), A Sociological Theory of Communication: The Self-Organization of the Knowledge-Based Society. Universal Publishers, Parkland, FL, at http://www.upublish.com/books/leydesdorff.htm

    Google Scholar 

  • Leydesdorff, L., P. Van der Schaar (1987), The use of scientometric indicators for evaluating national research programmes, Science & Techology Studies, 5: 22-31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leydesdorff, L., S. E. Cozzens (1993), The delineation of specialties in terms of journals using the dynamic journal set of the Science Citation Index, Scientometrics, 26: 133-154.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leydesdorff, L., S. Cozzens, P. Van den Besselaar (1994), Tracking areas of strategic importance using scientometric journal mappings, Research Policy, 23: 217-229.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leydesdorff, L., É. Gauthier (1996), The evaluation of national performance in selected priority areas using scientometric methods, Research Policy, 25: 431-450.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leydesdorff, L., P. Van den Besselaar (1997), Scientometrics and communication theory: Towards theoretically informed indicators, Scientometrics, 38: 155-174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luhmann, N. (1984), Soziale Systeme. Grundriß einer allgemeinen Theorie. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt a.M., (Social Systems, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, 1995).

    Google Scholar 

  • Luhmann, N. (1990), Die Wissenschaft der Gesellschaft. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt a.M.

  • Martin, B., J. Irvine (1983), Assessing basic research: Some partial indicators of scientific progress in radio astronomy, Research Policy, 12: 61-90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Merton, R. K. (1968), The Matthew effect in science, Science, 159 (5 January): 56-63.

  • Moed, H. F., W. J. M. Burger, J. G. Frankfort, A. F. J. Van Raan (1985), The use of bibliometric data for the measurement of university research performance, Research Policy, 14: 131-149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Narin, F. (1976), Evaluative Bibliometrics. Computer Horizons, Inc., Cherry Hill, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Narin, F., E. Noma (1985), Is technology becoming science? Scientometrics, 7: 369-381.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nederhof, A. J. (1988), Changes in publication patterns of biotechnologists: An evaluation of the impact of government stimulation programs in six industrial nations, Scientometrics, 14: 475-485.

    Google Scholar 

  • Price, D. de Solla (1965), Networks of scientific papers, Science, 149: 510-515.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg, N. (1982), How exogeneous is science? In: Inside the Black Box: Technology and Economics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 141-159.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shannon, C. E. (1948), A Mathematical theory of communication, Bell System Technical Journal, 27: 379-423 and 623–656.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon, H. A. (1969), The Sciences of the Artificial. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA/ London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Small, H. (1978), Cited documents as concept symbols, Social Studies of Science, 7: 113-122.

    Google Scholar 

  • Studer, K. E., D. E. Chubin (1980), The Cancer Mission. Social Contexts of Biomedical Research. Sage, Beverly Hills.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swanson, D. R. (1990), Medical literature as a potential source of new knowledge, Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc., 78: 29-37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Theil, H. (1972), Statistical Decomposition Analysis. North-Holland: Amsterdam/ London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tijssen, R., J. de Leeuw, A. F. J. van Raan (1987), Quasi-correspondence analysis on square scientometric transaction matrices, Scientometrics, 11: 347-361.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tijssen, R. J. W. (1992), Cartography of Science: scientometric mapping with multidimensional scaling methods. DSWO Press/ Leiden University, Leiden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van den Besselaar, P. (2000), Communication between science and technology studies journals, Scientometrics, 47: 169-193.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van den Besselaar, P., L. Leydesdorff (1996), Mapping change in scientific specialties: A scientometric reconstruction of the development of artificial intelligence, Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 47: 415-436.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van den Besselaar, P., G. Heimeriks (2001), Disciplinary, multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary: Concepts and indicators. Paper to be presented at the 8 th ISSI Conference for Scientometrics and Informetrics, Sydney, July.

  • Van den Daele, W., W. Krohn, P. Weingart (1979) (Eds), Geplante Forschung: Vergleichende Studien über den Einfluss politischer Programme auf die Wissenschaftsentwicklung. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt a.M.

  • VlachÝ, J. (1988), Informationsanalyse zur Supraleitungsforschung, Physikinformationen, 14: 15-49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitley, R. D. (1984), The Intellectual and Social Organization of the Sciences. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wouters, P. (1999), The Citation Culture. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of Amsterdam.

  • Zsindely, S., A. Schubert, T. Braun (1982), Editorial gatekeeping patterns in international science journals: A new science indiator, Scientometrics, 4: 57-68.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Leydesdorff, L. Indicators of structural change in the dynamics of science: Entropy statistics of the SCI Journal Citation Reports . Scientometrics 53, 131–159 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014892106059

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014892106059

Keywords

Navigation