Distance and velocity measures: using citations to determine breadth and speed of research impact

Jon Garner (), Alan L. Porter and Nils C. Newman
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Jon Garner: Search Technology, Inc
Alan L. Porter: Search Technology, Inc
Nils C. Newman: IISC

Scientometrics, 2014, vol. 100, issue 3, No 6, 687-703

Abstract: Abstract Research that integrates the social and natural sciences is vital to address many societal challenges, yet is difficult to arrange, conduct, and disseminate. This paper compares diffusion of the research supported by a unique U.S. National Science Foundation program on Human and Social Dynamics (“HSD”) with a matched group of heavily cited papers. We offer a measure of the distance of cites between the Web of Science Category (“WoSC”) in which a publication appears and the WoSC of the journal citing it, and find that HSD publications are cited more distantly than are comparison publications. We provide another measure—citation velocity—finding that HSD publications are cited with similar lag times as are the comparison papers. These basic citation distance and velocity measures enrich analyses of research knowledge diffusion patterns.

Keywords: Knowledge diffusion; Bibliometrics; Citation analysis; Diffusion score; Velocity measure; Distance measure; 62; Statistics; 91; Game theory; economics; social and behavioral sciences (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11192-014-1316-5

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