Detecting the historical roots of tribology research: a bibliometric analysis

Bakthavachalam Elango (), Lutz Bornmann () and Govindaraju Kannan ()
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Bakthavachalam Elango: IFET College of Engineering
Govindaraju Kannan: IFET College of Engineering

Scientometrics, 2016, vol. 107, issue 1, No 17, 305-313

Abstract: Abstract In this study, the historical roots of tribology (a sub-field of mechanical engineering and materials science) are investigated using a newly developed scientometric method called “Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RPYS)”. The study is based on cited references (n = 577,472) in tribology research publications (n = 24,086). The Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCI-E) is used as data source. The results show that RPYS has the potential to identify the important publications: Most of the publications which have been identified in this study as highly cited (referenced) publications are landmark publications in the field of tribology.

Keywords: Bibliometrics; Citation peak; Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RPYS); Historical roots; Tribology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11192-016-1877-6

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