Informetrics theory, methods, and applications

Bibliometrics constitutes an important aspect in the quantitative research ofinformation science and is currently progressing toward informetrics.In terms of metrological units, informet

Junping Qiu · Rongying Zhao

Siluo Yang · Ke Dong

InformetricsTheory, Methods and Applications

Junping Qiu • Rongying Zhao

Siluo Yang • Ke Dong

Informetrics

Theory, Methods and Applications

123

Ke DongSchool of Information ManagementWuhan University

Wuhan, HubeiChina

ISBN 978-981-10-4031-3 ISBN 978-981-10-4032-0 (eBook)

DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-4032-0

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Since 1960s, three similar terms: Bibliometrics, Scientometrics, and Informetricshave appeared in thefields of library science, philology, information science, andscience of science These similar quantitative branches are called three-metrics Afterdecades of efforts on research and promotion, these disciplines all progressed atdifferent degrees and became widely recognized by academia Although these areashave different research objects and purposes, they have the same origin and sharecommon principles, methods, and tools Therefore, academia refers to these subjects

as three-metrics With development of science and technology and continuation

of these three metrologies, convergence among them has developed, andInternational Society for Scientometrics and Informetrics (ISSI) was formed Since1990s, with rapid development and popularization of computer and network tech-nologies and rise of knowledge economy and knowledge management, digitaliza-tion, networking, and knowledge have become remarkable characteristics ofinformation society and knowledge economy era Three-metrics is characterized byexpanding breadth and depth of studies Webometrics is based on network infor-mation and data, and Knowledgometrics is based on knowledge units; these subjectsemerged in field of information management, prompting people to coin the termfive-metrics Five-metrics include literature, data, information (including networkinformation), knowledge, and scientific activities Subjects share many similaritiesbut also have significant differences; they became important works on measurementresearch in information management field Development of five-metrics reflectscontinuous innovation of quantitative research on information management andtracking of evolution with changing times and social background Five-metrics alsoonly involves legacy and development of bibliometrics and scientometrics.Informetrics uses quantitative methods to describe and research phenomena,processes, and laws of information This area is a new quantitative discipline ofinformation science, and it is based on mathematics and statistics Informetrics wasinitially presented as the German word “Informetrie,” which was proposed byGerman scholar Otto Nacke Corresponding English term “Informetrics” soonappeared in subsequent literature works Nacke expanded concept of informetrics onfirst Seminar on Informetrics (including Scientometrics) in Frankfurt in September

v

1980 German and English terms also appeared in Chinese journals in 1981.Informetrics did not only spread rapidly in English-speaking countries but was alsorecognized by International Federation for Information and Documentation (FID),marking the rise of a new branch of discipline As early as 1980, FID establishedinformetric communications (FID/IM) In 1987, Belgium held thefirst InternationalConference on Bibliometrics and Theoretical Aspects of Information Retrieval Thewell-known information scientist, Brookes, suggested at the meeting that terminformetrics should be added to name of second International Academic Conference,which would be held in Canada in 1989; participants were generally supportive.However, conference was not renamed until June 1995 on Fifth InternationalConference on Scientometrics and Informetrics held in Chicago, USA Informetricswas replaced with Bibliometrics in conference name At present, the conference isknown as ISSI Given that“Informetrics” has been used in the titles of numerousproceedings published by international academic conferences since 1987, a number

of well-known foreign information scientists regard 1987 as time when informetricswas recognized formally by international information academia Chinese academiccommunity responded accordingly to Informetrie (German) and Informetrics(English) and the disciplines they represented and introduced As early as 1981,related papers were published My monograph < Bibliometrics(Chinese) >, pub-lished in 1988, not only discussed in detail relationship among three-metrics but alsoproposed systematic framework of informetrics

Our team has been teaching and researching on bibliometrics, informetrics, andscientometrics at Wuhan University since early 1980s We led in offeringBibliometrics course in Chinese colleges in 1983 and compiled Chinese teachingmaterial under the same name Materials were published officially by Scientific andTechnical Documentation Press (Beijing) in 1988 after being featured in mimeo-graph in 1983, letterpress in 1985, and few years of teaching This book was thefirst to comprehensively structure content system of bibliometrics from the per-spective of theory, method, and application, and it was praised and welcomed byacademic community This textbook is used in more than 10 colleges and uni-versities, and its citation rate is among the best Yang Peiting, a famous informationscientist, said, “This is undoubtedly a positive contribution to the study andteaching of Information Science in China, and this can be said to be a ground-breaking research.” Afterward, our team carried out studies on three-metrics, whichsignificantly influence people both in local areas and abroad With rapid develop-ment of information technology and information science and with popularization ofinformation resources, electronic, digital, and network, information resources arebecoming more popular Information resources greatly influenced and resulted inprofound changes in development of human society, economy, science and tech-nology, culture, and other fields Under new social environment and technicalconditions, new developments transpired in bibliometrics research Facing this newsituation, trends, and topic, our team led development of informetric and webo-metric research in China and published series of research papers with

“Informetrics” and “Webometrics” on their titles in Information Studies: Theoryand Application in 2000–2001; these publications had great repercussion and high

rate of citation in academia, locally and abroad These papers became classic series

of articles in research of informetrics and webometrics <Informetrics (Chinese)>

by Qiu Junping was published by Wuhan University Press in January 2007 Thisbook was crystallization of long-term teaching and research on three-metrics and

reflected development characteristics of three-metrics in information age Thematerial-oriented teaching and research on library science, information science andinformation management, and other related disciplines are included in“Ministry ofEducation for the 21st century curriculum materials” and “information managementcollege and university core course textbook.” The book was selected as part ofnational quality courses and national Twelve Five planning materials In recentyears, we focused on trends in metrology research, undertook series of researchprojects, such as national social science major and the National Science FundProject, and published series of research results On this basis, under Science Press,

we published“Metrology Research Series in Information Science,” which included

<Scientometrics>, <Knowledgometrics>, <Webometrics>, and other relatedmonographs in Chinese version

With development of social economy and science and technology in China,research on information metrology rapidly progressed China hosted ISSI meeting

in Beijing (2003) and Wuhan (2017) and many other relevant meetings related toinformetrics Our country and other nations, such as the United States and someEuropean countries, developed exchanges and cooperation We published numer-ous related works and set up corresponding university courses and direction ofgraduate education Many professional students and scholars go abroad to pursuedegrees Research institutions on informetrics also emerged; some of these orga-nizations include National Professional Association and Chinese Society forScientometrics and Informetrics In China, informetrics adheres to dual develop-ment principle of internationalization and localization, with both closely followingpace of foreign countries and having their own characteristics Under the guidance

of “bringing in and going out” strategy, Chinese scholars played increasinglyimportant role in international professional organizations and extensively absorbedachievements of foreign professional treatises These academics published moreacademic papers in foreign informetric professional journals with increasing

influence However, owing to the influence of policy orientation and language,international publications inadequately released relevant works of Chinese profes-sionals To introduce informetric research and to teach contents with Chinesecharacteristics, we published <Informetrics—Theory, Methods and Applications>

in Springer–Verlag We believe that publication of this book will provide basis forforeign countries to understand informetric research in China and will promotefurther development in research and practice of informetrics

We always believed in close linkages and differences among bibliometrics,informetrics, and scientometrics These disciplines have more interconnections,cross-connection, and overlapping than differences Some foreigners regarded suchareas as synonymous or advocated to use different names of subjects in differentsituations We used the title “Informetrics—Theory, Methods and Applications”with following considerations in mind: first consideration is wider scope of

informetrics, which may include bibliometrics and scientometrics and also appeared

in the name of ISSI meeting Second consideration is that informetrics is based onresearch and is also recognized as branch of academic discipline Third, within-depth application of computer network technology, rise of Web 2.0 and big datatechnology, and popularization of open access and digital publishing, popularity ofsocial networking and We-Media and rapid development in 4G mobile services ande-research profoundly influenced all aspects of information communication andtechnology innovation and provided necessary conditions and possibilitiesfor information metrology and rare opportunity for development of informetrics.Fourth consideration is to arouse interest of people and to promote further researchand development of informetrics Future research and development should focus oninformetrics In this book, three-metrics is inevitably involved as basis of biblio-metrics, and focus of discussion is metrology problem of literature information; thisproblem is influenced by present research situation and facts To facilitate narrative,

we also used“Informetrics” in the book

The book consists of 11 chapters Main content can be summarized into theory,method, and application Research on theory of informetrics is found in Chaps.1–7.Research on informetrics method spans Chaps 8–9 Chapters 10–11 discussapplication of informetrics Law applications are also discussed in some chapters.This book retains some of typical application examples in <Bibliometrics> becausethey are classic cases and can still explain the problem; representative new casescannot replace them Though content is not updated, novelty of the book should not

be affected During compiling, we attempted to construct disciplinary system ofinformetrics from angles of theory, method, and application: attention was provided

to combination of theory and practice, inheritance, and innovation; traditionalstatistical tools were combined with new information technology methods; no effortwas exerted to ensure clear thinking, reasonable structure, comprehensive expla-nation, rich content, novel idea, and detailed material for this book Material shouldnot only reflect and absorb latest development on three-metrics both at home andabroad but also add our research results to make study of included disciplines morescientific, innovative, systemic, and practical The book is suitable as teachingmaterial in information management and information system, management science,information resource management, e-commerce, information science, library sci-ence, archives science, publishing science, science of science and management ofS.&T., and evaluation and prediction of science in colleges This work also serves

as learning reference for majority of information workers, knowledge workers,researchers, evaluators, and managers

Qiu Junping chaired revision of the book The following people participated inrevision and translation work: Qiu Junping, Zhao Rongying, Yang Siluo, Dong Ke,Tan Chunhui, Ma Ruimin, Ding Jingda, Song Yanhui, Zhang xinyuan, Yang Jinli,and Yuan Qingli Finally, Qiu Junping and Yang Siluo made some additions,deletions or modifications, and completed English proofreading and drafting works.This book is legacy and innovation of <Informetrics> (Chinese version),

<Bibliometrics> (Chinese version), <Scientometrics> (Chinese version), and

<Knowledgometrics> (Chinese version), and is completed based on <Informetrics>(Chinese version) with modification, supplementation, updates, and expansion.Given that chapters of this book were written separately by different authors,mistakes may inevitably exist We sincerely ask readers for criticisms andcorrections.

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Origin and Development of Informetrics 1

1.1.1 Origin of Informetrics 1

1.1.2 Background of Informetrics 3

1.1.3 Development of Informetrics 4

1.2 Concept and System Structure of Informetrics 12

1.2.1 Aim and Significance of Informetric Research 12

1.2.2 Research Object of Informetrics 14

1.2.3 Concept of Informetrics 14

1.2.4 Content Structure of Informetrics 16

1.3 Tools and Methods for Informetric Research 17

1.3.1 Data Sources for Informetrics 17

1.3.2 Tools and Application Software for Informetrics 19

1.3.3 Method Systems for Informetrics 23

1.4 Informetrics and Related Disciplines 24

1.4.1 Related Disciplines of Informetrics 24

1.4.2 Relation Among Informetrics, Mathematics, and Statistics 25

1.4.3 Relation Between Informetrics and Bibliometrics 27

1.4.4 Relation Between Informetrics and Scientometrics 28

1.4.5 Relation Between Informetrics and Webmetrics 29

1.4.6 Relation Between Informetrics and Scientific Evaluation 29

xi

2 Literature Information Growth Law 31

2.1 Characteristics of Literature Information Flow and Meaning of Growth Law 31

2.1.1 Characteristics of Literature Information Flow 31

2.1.2 Influence of Literature Information Growth and Countermeasures 32

2.1.3 Research on and Significance of Literature Information Growth Laws 34

2.2 Growth of Science Knowledge and Scientific Literature 35

2.2.1 Growth of Scientific Knowledge 35

2.2.2 Relationship Between the Growth of Scientific Knowledge and the Growth of Scientific Literature 38

2.3 Exponential Law of Literature Information 39

2.3.1 Indicators and Methods of Literature Information Measure 39

2.3.2 Literature Information Index Growth Model 40

2.3.3 Analysis of the Literature Index Growth Law 42

2.4 Law of Literature Information Logic Growth 44

2.4.1 Literature Information Logic Growth Model 44

2.4.2 Analysis of the Law of Literature Information Logic Growth 45

2.4.3 Modification of the Model for Literature Information Logical Growth 47

2.5 Other Mathematical Models for Literature Information Growth 48

2.5.1 Linear Growth Model 48

2.5.2 Hierarchical Sliding Exponential Model 49

2.5.3 Transcendental Function Model 51

2.5.4 Шecтoпaл–Бypмaн Growth Model 52

2.6 Analysis of the Mechanism of Literature Information Growth 53

2.6.1 Reason for Literature Information Growth 53

2.6.2 Explanation for the Literature Information Growth Law 56

2.7 Applications of Literature Information Growth Laws 58

2.7.1 Applications to Science of Science 58

2.7.2 Applications to Information Research 58

2.7.3 Application to Literature Information Management 59

3 Literature Information Obsolescence Law 61

3.1 The Concept and Measure of Literature Information Obsolescence 61

3.1.1 The Concept of Literature Obsolete and Intelligence Obsolete 62

3.1.2 Measure for Literature Obsolescence 65

3.2 Research Methods of Literature Obsolescence 68

3.2.1 Statistical Data Analysis of Literature Management 68

3.2.2 Citation Analysis 69

3.2.3 Mathematical Methods 71

3.2.4 Comprehensive Analysis Method 71

3.3 The Mathematical Model and Index of Literature Information Obsolescence 72

3.3.1 Classical Mathematical Model and Obsolescence Index 72

3.3.2 Grey Dynamic Model (GM) and Obsolescence Index 80

3.4 The Mechanism of Research and Analysis of Literature Information Obsolescence 83

3.4.1 Several Types of Literature Obsolescence 83

3.4.2 Several Circumstances of Literature Information Obsolescence 84

3.4.3 Factors Affecting the Literature Information Obsolescence 85

3.5 The Application of Literature Information Obsolescence Law 87

3.5.1 The Application in Document Information Management 87

3.5.2 The Application in the Study of Science of Science and Technology 88

4 Concentration and Scattering Distribution of Literature Information: Bradford’s Law 89

4.1 Background of Bradford’s Law 89

4.1.1 Founder: Bradford 89

4.1.2 Background of Bradford Law’s 90

4.2 Formation of Bradford’s Law 92

4.2.1 Proposal of Bradford’s Law 92

4.2.2 Establishment of Bradford’s Law 95

4.3 Basic Content of Bradford’s Law 95

4.3.1 Elaboration of Bradford’s Law 95

4.3.2 Consistency of Theory with the Practice of Bradford’s Law 99

4.4 Development of Bradford’s Law 101

4.4.1 Development Process of Bradford’s Law 101

4.4.2 Vickery’s Inference on Bradford’s Law 103

4.4.3 Leimkuhler’s Contribution to Bradford’s Law 106

4.4.4 Brookes’ Description of Bradford’s Law 108

4.4.5 Unified Equation of Cмoлъкoв 110

4.4.6 Theory and Development Trend of Bradford’s Law 112

4.5 Applications of Bradford’s Law 113

4.5.1 Basic Method for the Application of Bradford’s Law 114

4.5.2 Main Region of the Application of Bradford’s Law 115

4.5.3 Conditions and Limitations of the Application of Bradford’s Law 119

5 Word Frequency Distribution of Literature Information: Zipf’s Law 121

5.1 Theoretical Basis of Zipf’s Law: Principle of Least Effort 121

5.1.1 Principle of Least Effort 122

5.1.2 Principle of Least Effort and the Word Frequency Distribution Law 122

5.2 Formation and Establishment of Zipf’s Law 123

5.2.1 Appearance of Frequency Dictionary 123

5.2.2 Estoup’s Found 124

5.2.3 Condon’s Formula 124

5.2.4 Zipf’s Research and the Establishment of Zipf’s Law 126

5.3 Basic Content of Zipf’s Law 127

5.3.1 Textual Representation of Zipf’s Law 127

5.3.2 Image Description of Zipf’s Law 128

5.3.3 General Mathematical Form of Zipf’s Law 130

5.3.4 Applicability of Zipf’s Law 130

5.4 Development of Zipf’s Law 131

5.4.1 Joos’s Double-Parameter Formula 131

5.4.2 Three-Parameter Formula of Mandelbrot 132

5.4.3 Low-Frequency Word Distribution: Zipf’s Second Law 133

5.5 Applications of Zipf’s Law 135

5.5.1 Application to Literature Indexing and Thesaurus 136

5.5.2 Application to Information Retrieval 138

5.5.3 Application to Science Evaluation 139

6 Author Distribution of Literature Information: Lotka’s Law 145

6.1 Background of Lotka’s Law 146

6.1.1 Founder of Lotka’s Law: Lotka 146

6.1.2 Background of Lotka’s Law 146

6.2 Formation and Basic Content of Lotka’s Law 147

6.2.1 Formation of Lotka’s Law 147

6.2.2 Content of Lotka’s Law 152

6.2.3 Generalized Lotka’s Law 153

6.3 Development of Lotka’s Law 154

6.3.1 Verification of Lotka’s Law 154

6.3.2 Contributions of Fracci 158

6.3.3 Development of Lotka’s Law in China 161

6.3.4 Research on Collaborators 168

6.4 Price’s Law and the Distribution of Other Authors 174

6.4.1 Price’s Law 174

6.4.2 Distribution of Other Authors 176

6.5 Application of Lotka’s Law 178

6.5.1 Function of Lotka’s Law 178

6.5.2 Problems that Should Be Noticed During Application 183

7 Statistical Analysis Method for Literature Information 185

7.1 Significance and General Concept of Literature Information Statistics 185

7.1.1 Literature on Information Statistics and Its Significance 185

7.1.2 General Concept of Literature Information Statistics 187

7.2 Principles and Indexes of Literature Information Statistics 190

7.2.1 Principle Requirement for Literature Information Statistics 190

7.2.2 Index System of Literature Information Statistics 191

7.2.3 Statistical Indicators of Information Resource Management 193

7.3 Types and Basic Steps of Literature Information Statistics 194

7.3.1 Main Types of Literature Information Statistics 194

7.3.2 Basic Steps of Literature Information Statistical Analysis 196

7.4 Application of Literature Information Statistical Analysis 198

7.4.1 Application to Information Resource Management 199

7.4.2 Application to Information Users and Literature Information Utilization Research 200

7.4.3 Application to Literature Information Law Research 200

7.4.4 Application to Discipline Development Law Research 201

7.5 Mathematical Statistical Method and Its Application 203

7.5.1 Summary of Mathematical Statistical Method 203

7.5.2 Applications of the Mathematical Statistical Method 204

8 Methods of Citation Analysis 207

8.1 Basic Concepts and Methods of Citation Analysis 207

8.1.1 Basic Concepts of Citation Analysis 207

8.1.2 Citation Behavior and Motives 209

8.1.3 Basic Types and Steps of Citation Analysis 210

8.2 Citation Analysis of the Main Tools 212

8.2.1 SCI 212

8.2.2 Essential Science Indicators (ESI) 224

8.2.3 Main Tools of Domestic Citation Analysis 245

8.3 Distribution Law of Citation and Key Indicators of Analysis 247

8.3.1 Citation Structure and Its Significance 248

8.3.2 Distribution Law of Citation Quantity 248

8.3.3 Garfield’s Law of Citation Concentration 251

8.3.4 Analysis of the Main Index of Citation Measures 252

8.3.5 Self-citation Analysis of Scientific Literature 257

8.4 Citation Analysis of Scientific Journals 259

8.4.1 Decentralization and Centralization Law of Periodical Literature 260

8.4.2 Main Indices of Evaluating Journals 262

8.4.3 Journal Citation Reports (JCR) 270

8.5 Citation Network and Cluster Analysis 282

8.5.1 Concept of Bibliographic Coupling and Co-citation 283

8.5.2 Coupling Analysis 288

8.5.3 Co-citation Analysis 292

8.5.4 Citation Cluster Analysis 295

8.6 Application of the Citation Analysis Method 301

8.6.1 Application of the Citation Analysis Method 302

8.6.2 Application Example of the Citation Analysis Method 306

8.6.3 Limitation of the Citation Analysis Method 308

9 Methods of Computer-Aided Informetrics Analysis 311

9.1 Significance of Computer-Aided Informetrics 311

9.1.1 Improve the Efficiency of Informetrics Analysis 311

9.1.2 Improve the Reliability of Informetric Analysis 312

9.1.3 Promote the Accuracy of Informetrics Research 313

9.1.4 Expand the Research Area of Informetrics 313

9.2 Feasibility of Computer-Aided Informetrics Analysis 314

9.2.1 Computer and Network Technology as Fundamentals 314

9.2.2 Development of Literature Digitalization as a Prerequisite 315

9.2.3 Theoretical Foundation Laid by the Development of Informetrics 316

9.2.4 Research Development from Abroad Provides Experience 316

9.3 Theoretical Basis of Computer-Aided Informetrics 317

9.3.1 Major Types of Computer-Aided Informetrics Analysis 317

9.3.2 Structure and Function of Computer-Assisted Information Metering Analysis 318

9.3.3 Steps of Computer-Assisted Informetrics Analysis 319

9.4 Construction of a Citation Database and Data Mining Analysis 320

9.4.1 Citation Analysis Database 320

9.4.2 Citation Analysis System Design 321

9.4.3 Case Study on the Design of the Online Edition of Chinese Social Science Citation Index (CSSCI) 324

9.4.4 Mining Analysis Methods of Citation Data 326

9.5 Application of Computer-Assisted Information Metering Analytical Method 331

9.5.1 Application in Scientific Research 331

9.5.2 Application in the Information Source Field 332

9.5.3 Application in Competitiveness Analysis 333

9.6 Development Direction of Computer-Assisted Information Metering Analysis 333

9.6.1 Development in Breadth and Depth 333

9.6.2 Development in Practicality 334

9.6.3 Development in Integration 334

9.6.4 Development in Modelling 335

9.6.5 Development in Intelligentization 335

10 Application of Informetrics in Information Resource Management and Research 337

10.1 Informetrics and the Determination of Core Journals 337

10.1.1 Theoretical Basis and Formation Mechanism of Core Journals 338

10.1.2 Concept of the Core Periodical and the Important Meaning of the Measurement 339

10.1.3 Measurement Method—The Method System of Informetrics 340

10.2 Informetrics and Documentation Information Collection

and Management 348

10.2.1 Determine the Best Program for Periodical Collection 348

10.2.2 Select the Best Means to Collect Literature 349

10.2.3 Using Bradford’s Lawdas a Literature Purchasing Strategy 350

10.2.4 Using Literature Obsolescence Law to Guide Book Weeding Out 352

10.2.5 Best Allocation for Literature Purchasing Funds 353

10.2.6 Calculation Method of Book Shelf Placeholder 355

10.2.7 Evaluation of Literature Collection Work 356

10.3 Informetrics and Information Retrieval 357

10.3.1 Determination of the Integrity of Search Tools 357

10.3.2 Bradford’s Law for Information Retrieval 359

10.4 Informetrics and User Research 361

10.4.1 User Distribution in Line with the Law of Bradford 362

10.4.2 Guide Users in Using Journals 362

10.4.3 Guide the Reader in Buying and Reading the Best Books 363

10.5 Concentration, Dispersion Laws, and Examples of Document Information Flow 364

10.5.1 Research Methods 364

10.5.2 Research Results 367

10.6 Examples of and Research on the Law of Literature Information Utilization 367

10.6.1 Research Methods of the Law of Literature Information Use 369

10.6.2 Study of the Law of Scientific Researchers Using Literature Information 374

11 Application of Informetrics in Science and Technology Management and Forecasting 377

11.1 Informetrics and Science of Science 377

11.1.1 Basic Principles 377

11.1.2 Research Contents 378

11.2 Informetrics and Talent Evaluation 386

11.2.1 Talent Evaluation Theory of Informetrics 386

11.2.2 Talent Evaluation Methods 387

11.2.3 Selection of Outstanding Scientists 388

11.2.4 Forecasting of Future Winners 391

11.3 Informetrics and Regional and Institutional Research

Evaluation 393

11.3.1 Scientific and Quantitative Study of Braun 393

11.3.2 Schubert and Other Scientists’ Measurement Research 395

11.3.3 Evaluation of Scientific Research Institutions 397

11.3.4 Evaluation of Scientific Research in China 399

11.4 Informetrics and Science and Technology Forecasting 406

11.4.1 Informetrics and Science and Technology Forecasting 406

11.4.2 Conducting Technical Evaluation and Prediction by Using Patent Documents 415

11.4.3 Using Informetrics to Predict the Development Trend of a Discipline 421

11.4.4 Prospects of Product Development and Application Using Informetrics 428

Bibliography 431

“informetrics” during the first informetrics (including scientometrics) seminar thatconvened in Frankfurt, Germany In 1981, both German and English termsappeared in domestic periodicals and were translated as“informetrics.” However,arguments were raised A number of articles have pointed out that this term should

be subjected to particular scrutiny Related studies have determined that the suffix

“metrics” follows a vowel (such as “a” or “o” in bibliometrics and scientometrics)

in about 10 subject names that contain the element “metrics.” Nevertheless, thissuffix follows a consonant “r” in the term “informetrics,” which appears at oddswith the general word formation rule in English The credibility of the term, whichhas been translated by non-English speakers, remains to be verified Nonetheless,the term has already gained prevalence in English-speaking countries, and it hasbeen recognized by the International Federation of Documentation (FID) Thedoubtful attitude of some scholars toward the word has been eventually eliminated,and this emerging subdiscipline has begun toflourish

In the early 1980s, FID/IM established the Committee of Metrology (FID/IM),which had a standing body located in the Indian National Scientific DocumentationCenter and with T.N Nagy as the president With the objective of strengthening

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd 2017

S Yang et al., Informetrics,

DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-4032-0_1

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education and research in informetrics, FID/IM formulated key points for the workscheme and planned to conduct important academic activities to promote thedevelopment of the aforementioned subject In 1982, the former Czechoslovakiaheld a conference on the teaching plans of informetrics Two years later, a few basictheoretical issues were elucidated in two important papers of B.C Brooks, whichexplicitly advocated for the vigorous development of informational metrology.With its plans evaluated and demonstrated, FID/IM published “NewsletterInformetrics” in India in 1985 In the First International Symposium onBibliometrics and Information Retrieval Theory held in 1987 in Belgium, theproposition of Brooks to add“informetrics” to the name of the second session of theinternational conference scheduled to be held in 1989 in Canada won universalrecognition and support from attending scholars The views of Brooks wereaccepted in the third and fourth international conferences held in India andGermany in 1993 and 1994, respectively In June 1995, the academic conferenceheld in Chicago was renamed as the “Fifth International Conference onScientometrics and Informetrics.” Although bibliometrics was discussed in theconference, the term was not included in the title of the conference The organi-zation that held biennial international seminars also had its name changed to

“International Society for Scientometrics and Informetrics” (ISSI) All the mentioned changes have demonstrated the recognition of informetrics by theinternational academic circles and its rising prominence

afore-The year 1987 was regarded as the one during which“informetrics” was cially recognized by the international information community and by several for-eign information scientists because the term appeared on the title of papers related

offi-to or published by international academic conferences since 1987 Treatises withthe term “informetrics” on their titles were published, as evidenced by the

“Introduction to Informetrics” written by L Egghe and R Rousseau in 1990 and thepaper“Introduction to Informetrics” by Canadian information scientist, S.T Tague.After 1987, several Western information service corporations even changed theirnames to the trendy “Informetrics Limited” when the term became prevalent inNorth America and Western Europe

Academies in China have also reacted promptly and given sufficient attention toinformetrie (in Germany), informetrics (in English), and the subjects represented bythe term For example, related papers were published early in 1981, and the officialpublication of “bibliometrics” in 1988 did not only elucidate scientometrics,informetrics, and bibliometrics (tri-metrics), but also propose the framework for thecontents of informetrics Informetrics has acquired a consistent translation resultfrom scholars as a third-grade branch discipline in response to information science.However, a relevant department in China altered its translation of“informetrics” in

1992, which became the origin of informetrics in China

1.1.2 Background of Informetrics

Similar to other disciplines, the introduction to informetrics has not occurred as acertainty but has formed and developed under a certain background and scientificenvironment

First, informetrics has extended and evolved based on traditional bibliometricsand scientometrics The early stage of informetrics coincided with the rise of bib-liometrics and scientometrics when related studies were active Several earlyinformation scientists who focused on quantitative studies regarded bibliometricsand scientometrics as theirfields of study; thus, people assumed that these fieldscombined specific methods from information science When some informationscientists joined in bibliometric research, considerable progress was achieved onuseful extensions and studies on the research scope, methods, models, applications,and other aspects of bibliometrics In the early 1980s, Brooks studied Bradford’slaw under common social circumstances and replaced the terms“periodical” and

“paper” with “source” and “item,” respectively, to make them widely acceptable

He also extended bibliometrics into a calculus of social science, such that it wouldplay a broader role in society However, after all the extensions scholars made onthe research scope of and method for bibliometrics, they determined that infor-metrics was not a subject that entirely belonged to bibliometrics, but one with widerareas of measurement and quantitative research, as well as its own unique researchmethod They finally realized a simple but important fact, one that would beimpossible to notice earlier, i.e., the number of and metering method for infor-mation considerably exceeded that of the literature This significant finding wasproposed in a series of papers published by Brooks, who clearly advocated for thedevelopment of informational metrology At that time, bibliometric research mainlyserved the research purposes and needs of library science Library scientists wantedbibliometrics to be their exclusive field of study This situation prompted infor-mation scientists to establish their own area of quantification research that corre-sponded to information science, thereby promoting the formation and development

of informetrics

Second, informetrics is the inevitable outcome of the development of tion science Quantification research has always been a significant direction and aninevitable tendency in the development of information science because of severalreasons Information science will inevitably evolve from a qualitative stage to aquantitative stage given the general discipline development rules Only throughstrengthened quantitative research can information science become highly scientificand accurate, thereby establishing and promoting its status in the entire sciencesystem As Brooks stated,“information science will remain a heap of unconnectedtechniques and never become a subject of science until quantitative studies areconducted.” This important academic idea has received increasing recognition from

informa-a growing number of scholinforma-ars Others hinforma-ave informa-also informa-actively pinforma-articipinforma-ated in studyingthis aspect With extensive research findings being published, informetrics, as aquantitative subdiscipline of information science, is gaining increasing momentum

Therefore, informetrics is an inevitable product of the quantitative development ofinformation science.

Third, the field of informetrics comprises a number of backbones and pline leaders Information scientists, with their solid foundation of knowledge

disci-in mathematics and physics as well as familiarity with quantitative researchmethods, have the advantage and talent that can guarantee further development ofinformetrics Early scholars, such as Bradford, Lotka, and Price, and later ones,including Brooks and Garfield, are all specialists who have devoted themselves toresearch with a solid store of knowledge and well-used methods They have playedthe role of leader researchers For example, as an outstanding representative,Brooks actively advocated and attach great importance to the quantification ofinformation science, he thought information science is the study of the essence, assame as measurement, of information and knowledge, and also creatively putforward the“ranking technology” and “logarithmic perspective principle” as a way

of quantitative information science In 1988, Brooks proposed that we shouldreplace bibliometrics to informetrics, and the reason is that bibliometrics is onlyconfined to the bibographic metrology, and is not suitable for modern electronicmeasurement of the carrier of literature This has played a role on the formation anddevelopment of informetrics

The development course of informetrics is described as follows: statistical ography! bibliometrics ! scientometrics ! informetrics The earliest infor-metric research started at the beginning of the 20th century when the famousphilologists F.T Cole and N.B Eales conducted literature statistical research in

bibli-1917 In 1992, English library scientist E.W Hulme used the term “statisticalbibliography” for the first time in his book “The Relation between StatisticalBibliography and the Development of Modern Civilization.” This term refers to anew subdiscipline under bibliometrics that determines the nature of library materialsthrough statistical methods In 1969, the proposal of the renowned English infor-mation scientist Alan Pritchard that the term “bibliometrics” could be used toreplace“statistical bibliography” received universal acknowledgment from libraryscience and information science scholars The emergence of this term officiallymarked the birth of bibliometrics Similar to the early history of bibliometrics, thehistory of scientometrics dates back to the beginning of the 20th century whenEuropean and Russian scholars conducted statistical analyses of bibliographic ci-tations In the same year when the term“bibliometrics” was coined, scholars fromthe former Soviet Union, V.V Nalimov and Z.M Mulchenko, introduced the term

“scientometrics” as a scientific quantitative approach to studying and analyzinginformation In 1978, the magazine“Scientometrics” founded by Hungarian scholarTibor Braun provided an academic exchange platform for international sciento-metric scholars, thereby promoting the development of scientometrics The early

history of informetrics is incorporated into the history of bibliometrics and tometrics given that informetrics is a legacy and extension of the latter two Theterm“informetrics” proposed by the German scholar Otto Nacke in 1979 failed togain universal recognition from library science and information science scholars.However, Western information scientists have exerted continuous efforts to estab-lish the important position of informetrics, as evidenced by the founding of theCommittee on Informetrics by FID through the persuasion of information scientists

scien-in 1980 and the long-term project on teachscien-ing and studyscien-ing scien-informetrics; thepublication of the informal magazine“Informertics Newsletter” in India; the firstinternational academic conference, namely, the International Symposium onBibliometrics and Information Retrieval Theory held in Belgium and initiated byISSI, and the subsequent conference proceedings on informetrics, which hadattracted considerable attention from the bibliometric and informetric circles.Informetrics has invariably been designated as the core theme of the aforemen-tioned conference since 1987, and the name of the conference has been officiallychanged to “International Conference of the International Society forScientometrics and Informetrics” since 1995 when informetrics has gained wideacceptance among scholars with its gradually increasing influence

ISSI has played a pivotal role in the development of informetrics Since 1987, ithas held biennial international conferences on scientometrics and informetrics, with

15 successful consecutive conferences Different themes have been selected, andrelated papers have been widely collected and discussed during each conference,thereby positively affecting the development of informetrics The title, time, venue,and theme of each conference are listed in Table1.1

The accelerated development of information science and information ogy, coupled with the digitalization of information resources and the increasingpopularity of the Internet, has significantly affected and profoundly transformed allaspects of our society, economy, technology, and culture Under the new socialcontext and technological condition, the study and development of informetricshave presented different directions and trends In the current study, we mainly focus

technol-on the following aspects

(1) From bibliometrics to informetrics

In our article entitled “The Progress and Development Direction of DomesticBibliometrics,” we indicated that similar to the relationship between literature andinformation, bibliography and information science and bibliometrics and infor-metrics are also inextricably intertwined and mutually complementary.Bibliometrics is the foundation of informetrics, and informetrics is the developmentdirection of bibliometrics The book entitled“Bibliometrics” states that the progressachieved in bibliometrics also contributes to and promotes the development ofinformetrics We must incorporate the study and research of informetrics into ouragenda in due course and exert assiduous efforts to promote the development ofinformetrics The article “Progress in the Quantitative Research on DomesticInformation Science” divides papers on the quantitative research of information

Table 1.1 Outline of the 15 International Symposiums on informetrics and scientometrics

Diepenbeek, Belgium

1 In-depth discussion on basic laws

2 Application of citation analysis

London, Canada

1 Tri-metric (scientometrics, informetrics, and bibliometrics) scope

de finition

2 Rule generalization Third International

Symposium on

Informetrics (Indian

Statistical Institute)

9 –12 August, 1991

Bangalore, India

1 Application of statistical methods to informetrics

2 Application of mathematical methods Fourth International

Berlin, Germany

1 Relationship among tri-metric (scientometrics, informetrics, and bibliometrics) studies

2 Application of citation analysis

Illinois, United States

1 Discussion on periodical evaluation

2 Extension to basic laws

Sixth (same as above) 16 –19 June,

1997

Jerusalem, Israel

1 Application of citation analysis

2 Studies on the aging and dispersion laws of literature

3 Data compression

4 R&D management Seventh (same as above) 5 –8 June,

1999

Colima, Mexico

1 Academic journal evaluation

2001

Sydney, Australia

1 Laws and their distribution in the field of science 1

2 Mathematical model for information measurement

3 Citation motivation and scienti fic evaluation

(continued)

science into four categories: ➀ bibliometrics and its application, ➁ informationretrieval theory, ➂ theoretical study of information science, and ➃ informationeconomics and information result evaluation Among which, the category

Table 1.1 (continued)

4 Knowledge map and visualization

5 Analysis and forecast

of scienti fic and technological policies

6 Library management Ninth (same as above) 25 –29

August, 2003

Beijing, China

1 Mathematical modeling

of information measurement

2 Scienti fic evaluation and university-ranking methodology

3 Citation analysis and database

4 Quantitative analysis of scienti fic and

technological innovations (patent)

5 Network information retrieval research Tenth (same as above) 24 –28 July,

2005

Stockholm, Sweden

1 History of scientometrics

2 Citation motivation research

Refer to http://issi2007 cindoc.csic.es/a

Twelfth (same as above) 14 –17 July,

2009

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Refer to http://www issi2009.org/php/index php

Thirteenth (same as above) 4 –7 July,

2011

Durban, South Africa

Refer to http://www issi2011.uzulu.ac.za/ index.php

Fourteenth (same as above) 15 –19 July,

2013

Vienna, Austria

Refer to http://www issi2013.org/

Fifteenth (same as above) 29 June –4

July, 2015

Istanbul, Turkey

Refer to http://www issi2015.org/en/default asp

a We have not listed the diverse topics

“bibliometrics and its application” accounts for a relatively large proportion of46.6% Bibliometrics constitutes an important aspect in the quantitative research ofinformation science and is currently progressing toward informetrics.

In terms of metrological units, informetrics has gone beyond the metrologicalanalysis of bibliometric units, such as articles, volumes, and books, but has probedfurther into the literature to conduct metrological analysis of contents and relatedinformation therein, such as titles, subject terms, keywords, word frequency,knowledge items, citation information, author, publisher, date, language, and for-mat In early 1980, Sen Long, who worked for the Japan Science and TechnologyInformation Center, successfully predicted the structure and development prospects

of polymer material products by conducting statistical analysis of the keywordoccurrences of terms such as“plastic,” “rubber,” and “fiber.” We once conducted astatistical analysis of the number of content topics of a large number of relatedliterature in the article“The Quantitative Analysis of the Research Topic Trends ofDomestic Library and Information Science” and provided a quantitative revelation

of the development process, research priorities, popular themes, and trends ofdomestic library and information science The electronic publication developedrecently by Professor Chen Guangzuo introduced informetrics and knowledge itemclustering functions, thereby opening new areas of applications and creating a newdevelopment approach for bibliometrics Any knowledge element or even everyword of the text of an electronic publication, as a full-text database, can be retrievedand statistically analyzed In this case, the metrological unit of bibliometrics canevolve from an independent piece of literature to the knowledge elements or even asingle word in the literature, thereby making in-depth informetric analysis possible.This evolution is an important progress that shows that bibliometrics has developedinto informetrics, and this trend will continue further

(2) Computer-aided research and application of informetrics

A large number of studies on computer-assisted informetric analysis have achievedconsiderable success and increasingly widespread applications since the 1990s.Informetric study requires data support of a certain scale In addition, a systematicand standardized system of data source and channels to obtain original data should

be established; modern methods and tools, such as computers, should be used toconduct data processing and analysis Foreign academic circles place considerableimportance on efforts in this respect In the early 1960s, the United States began toprepare the“Science Citation Index” (SCI) The publication and distribution of thishuge index provide a powerful and multifunctional tool to study informetrics and,

to a certain extent, a large amount of data are indispensable to conduct citationanalysis, thereby effectively promoting the full-scale quantitative study of infor-metrics and information science This case is also observed domestically We havelong recognized that if modern technical means, such as computers, are not used tosolve the problem of informetric tools, then domestic study on informetrics willprobably never reach a new stage of development Hence, we emphasized in somerelated literature that conducting studies on the modernization of informetric tools

and instruments was an urgent task that should merit our attention We establishedthree proposals to conduct the study:➀ introduce and develop SCI, ➁ compile ourown“Chinese SCI” (CSCI), and ➂ conduct research on computer-assisted infor-metric analysis.

We have performed bold explorations in these aspects and achieved considerableprogress in recent years The Chinese Institute of Science and Technology estab-lished the Chinese Science and Technology Papers and Citation Database (CSTPC)

in 1987 and conducted a multi-index statistical analysis on a number of papers cited

by Chinese scholars The results, which were released annually, profoundly inenced the society, and thus, effectively promoted the popularization and develop-ment of informetrics The Documentation and Information Center of the ChineseAcademy compiled and published CSCI in 1995 after years of efforts The pro-duction and release of its CD-ROM version followed shortly in 1998 In 2000, theChina Social Science Research Evaluation Center of Nanjing University and theHong Kong University of Science and Technology jointly developed the ChineseSocial SCI (CSSCI) to compensate for the shortage of data sources in humanitiesand social sciences They provided a large-scale tool for retrieving data that could

flu-be extensively applied to quantitative studies on informetrics

The paper entitled “The New Trend of the Study on Bibliometrics—Computer-aided Bibliometric Study” was the first to discuss the quantitativeanalysis of computer-assisted informetrics and its approaches; it proposed thatcomputer-aided bibliometric studies should be used to make bibliometric researchmore standard and modern This paper also discussed system designs andapproaches to conducting computer-aided quantitative analysis of literature infor-mation as follows ➀ A database system that is mainly used for the informetricanalysis of literature information is established We can design various types ofbibliometric information system in terms of the different objectives and require-ments of studies starting from the principles of bibliometrics ➁ Existing infor-mation retrieval systems should be utilized and improved to adapt to the informetricanalysis of literature information Related recordings of data should be increasedaccording to the characteristics and requirements of informetric studies based on theoriginal information retrieval system, thereby expanding the scope of statistics to becapable of conducting quantitative analyses.➂ Copy technology is used to establish

a database, particularly for the informetric analysis of literature information.Software programs, such as SCI-NATE, that are capable of performing copytechnology to establish databases, are already available The paper “BibliometricMethods and Computer-aided Bibliometric Research” discussed new methods forbibliometric research, particularly computer-aided bibliometric research methodsfrom a methodological point of view The authors of the paper designed anddeveloped software on computer-aided bibliometric analysis, reestablished a set ofrecorded data, and conducted statistical analysis on a variety of data through Pro*Cbased on theoretical analysis with the support of the Oracle database system Theyalso performed statistical analysis on a series of multifaceted literature information,which was all based on 16,000 physics articles published by Chinese scholars in theBritish?“Physics Abstracts” (PA) in 1992–1994, using self-programmed software

All the aforementioned efforts do not only practiced and verified methods ofcomputer-aided bibliometric research, but also offered a quantitative revelation ofthe development characteristics, key areas, and power distributions in thefield ofphysics in China, thereby drawing useful results In summary, the establishmentand perfection of computer-aided bibliometric analysis methods indicate that thedomestic informetric analysis method system has basically taken shape and willcontinue to improve in the future.

(3) Study of webometrics

Two new terminologies, namely, “ webometrics” and “cybermetrics,” haveemerged in related web pages and literature in recent years However, the mea-surement object is online information or information controlled by the computer,rather than the“Net” or the “computer” itself Therefore, we can paraphrase theterms as“online informetrics.” Current literature information indicates that the term

“webmetrics” was first proposed by Almind in 1997 In the same year, Armand

et al.first coined the term “webmetrics” in the paper entitled “Informetric Analysis

on the World Wide Web—A Discussion on the Method of Webometrics” andproposed that various informetric methods could be used to conduct quantitativeanalysis on the World Wide Web For another similar term, i.e.,“cybermetrics,”electronic journals or academic forums on the Internet have been named after thisterm These forums and journals are mainly organized and published by the SpanishScientific Information and Documentation Center (CINDOC)

Different interpretations of the concept of“webometrics” are available abroad.Some scholars have defined it as a discipline that aims to conduct statistical analysis

of online literature; others consider it a study on the mutual references of onlinedata Furthermore, some researchers approach the problem from the perspective ofcyberspace computing and application software, believing that webometrics is adiscipline about computer software design, which is not the case If the researchobjects, methods, contents, and objectives of webometrics are considered, then webelieve that it is an emerging subdiscipline that aims to offer a quantitativedescription and statistical analysis of the organization, storage, distribution, trans-mission, mutual citation, development, and utilization of online informationthrough quantitative methods, such as mathematics and statistics This subdiscipline

is designed to present the quantitative characteristics and inherent laws of onlineinformation As an interdisciplinary subject, webometrics incorporates networktechnology, network management, information resource management, and infor-metrics This subject also offers a new direction and an important research domainfor informetrics, thereby gaining extensive application prospects Its fundamentalpurpose is to provide the necessary quantitative basis for the orderly and rationaldistribution of online information, the optimized allocation and effective use ofinformation resources, and the standardization of network management Therefore,the organizational management and information management of networks can besignificantly improved, thereby optimizing their economic and social benefits

Webometrics has rapidly formed and developed under the current scientificbackground and technical conditions First, the burgeoning online information andliterature do not only provide the necessary foundation and conditions for theemergence of webometrics, but also generate a pressing practical need for it,thereby promoting the formation and development of this discipline Second, thestatistical analysis and researchfindings of online literature information form thefoundation of the discipline and accumulate related experience In the 63rdInternational Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) conferenceheld in 1997, three papers that focused on the statistical analysis of online infor-mation were presented Among which, the paper “Feature of the AccessibleInformation on the World Wide Web” by T.O Edward of the United States OnlineComputer Library Center discussed statistical indicators, statistical types, and otherissues regarding online information The other two articles discussed statisticalissues regarding online information service in libraries In the 65th IFLA confer-ence held in Thailand in 1999, a number of papers also focused on such issues,thereby demonstrating progress to a certain extent Third, the development ofinformetrics has generated certain practical needs With the increasing amount ofonline information, the research object and scope of informetrics are bound toexpand to the online world, which is an objective requirement and inevitable trendfor the development of a discipline Fourth, network management should bestrengthened and improved With the increasing popularity of networks, strength-ening network management has become a top priority, and the implementation ofquantitative management is one of the major strategies to do so Researchfindings

on webometrics are bound to provide theoretical guidance and quantitative basis forquantitative and scientific network management; in turn, the practical need forquantitative network management will promote the comprehensive development ofwebometrics

We believe that the study object of webometrics should be understood in a broadsense In the current study, the term“network” does not only refer to the Internet,but also to other types of networks, such as local area networks The metering target

of online information mainly involves three levels or components: ① the directmeasurement of online information, including digital information, text message,and multimedia information, which incorporate text, images, and sound, such asinformation in the unit of byte and the measurement of informationflow; ② themeasurement of online literature and its information, as well as other relatedinformation, such as online electronic journals, theses, books, reports, the literaturedistribution structure, discipline theme, keywords, author information, and pub-lishing information that involves primary literature as well as secondary and tertiarysources of measurement issues;③ the measurement problems of an informationnetwork structural unit, such as the information growth of network sites, distribu-tion of subjects, information transmission, and mutual citations and links amongsites Thus, webometrics covers a wide range of problems

Similar to bibliometric and informetric systems, a webometric system consists ofits theories, methods, and applications Among which, theory is the basis, method isthe means, and application is the goal These three aspects complement one another,

and neither of them should be neglected Theory mainly focuses on the fundamentalissues that must be addressed in webometrics, such as an independent subject, newconcepts, new indicators, and new laws, including the concentration and dispersionlaws of online information, law about the author, growth and aging rules of wordfrequency, citation rules, multimedia information, and the theoretical explanationand mathematical models for these laws Method mainly focuses on the principle,applicability, and operating procedures of the application of various quantitativemethods, such as literature information statistical analysis, mathematical modelanalysis, citation analysis, bibliographic analysis, and systematic analysis.Necessary amendments to improve and perfect these methods are also included.With regard to application, the main task of webometrics is to study its applications

in multidisciplinary and multi-industry sectors, such as library information systems,information resource management, network management, science, scientific eval-uation, technology management, and forecasting theory Therefore, the value ofwebometrics can be fully utilized and contributions to the development of tech-nology, economy, and society are made

The aims of informetric research are to introduce the concept of quantity andquantitative methods as well as to further present the structure and law of quantitychange in information elements (including documents, data, object, information,and events), thereby theoretically improving the science and accuracy of infor-mation science and other disciplines related to information management as well asdeveloping them in a quantitative stage Moreover, research on informetrics pro-vides a quantitative basis for improving information systems and realizing high

efficiency of scientific management, thereby helping information communicationsystems to always operate at their best status and resolving basic contradictions ininformation service through providing the best information service Consequently,information management can better serve the development of science and tech-nology, the economy, and the society when getting over an information crisis

In general, the greatest significance of informetric research is as follows: itcontinues to sum up various experiences and laws from a theoretical perspectiveand transforms information“work” into information “science,” thereby making itstheory highly extensive and profound Simultaneously, such research verifies andcorrects old experiences and laws under new information conditions and explorestheir new applicability All these efforts make information science considerablyscientific and enable it to provide theoretical guidelines for practical work.The significance of this thesis lies in its application, whereas those of the theory

of and method for informetrics in differentfields are as follows:

(1) Application to improve and enrich information science theory research On thebasis of information work, informetrics demonstrates principles and methods ininformation collection, information arrangement, information analysis, andinformation utilization, thereby creating conditions for scientific and stan-dardized management as well as significantly improving the scientific nature ofbasic information science theory.

(2) Application to library management The use of informetrics in library work canhelp identify key periodicals; determine the utilization rates of books and ref-erence materials; provide scientific basis for the rational purchasing and storage

of books; ensure the preservation period to optimize collections; evaluate theintegrity of the bibliography, abstract, and index to compile a retrieval languageand to improve secondary literature service; assess the circulation of bookresources and refusing ratio; select the best number of copies and establish arational layout for a library database; and allocate funds rationally through thestatistical analysis of book circulation rates after clearing the economic pro-portion of order quantity and copy quantity, which will be helpful in providingreaders with targeted service when understanding their reading tendency andhabits to obtain information resources

(3) Application to information analysis and forecast We can analyze and estimatethe development trend of a certain subject or technology by using the basicprinciples and methods of informetrics and by processing and sorting surveydata For example, the generation, development, differentiation, and mutualpenetration of a certain subject can be estimated according to the relationshipamong its growth, the number and content construction of relevant literature,and their mutual references On this basis, the research results of overviews andspecialfield surveys can be obtained, and the subject distribution of informationsources and subject characters can be easily determined The analysis of doc-ument statistics is also conducive to determining the distribution of documentsregarding a certain subject to understand the nature of a discipline The analysis

of literature citation frequency will help in understanding the influence of asubject and the significance of subjects in certain countries Research on lit-erature obsolescence speed contributes to determining the corresponding speed

of subject development and can provide hard evidence for science and nology management Such parameter can also be used to study the history ofscientific development mainly from citation time distribution (historical map)and the net-like relationship among citations

tech-(4) Application to information retrieval In information work, the use of metrics can demonstrate the characteristics of information units, such as growthrate, aging coefficient, valued year of life, and dispersion rules; it will bebeneficial for reasonably determining the retrospective retrieval of periodicalsduring the automatic retrieval process, the time of data scraping, cumulativeindex journals, and the value and availability of related information In terms ofcontribution to scientific research, informetric analysis can help researchersobtain a large number of information sources, understand the background value

infor-of literature, identify its references and referenced behavior, track the

development trends and directions of science and technology in a timelymanner, and select and determine scientific research subjects Research oninformetrics also contributes considerably to determining the attraction andaccuracy of a certain topic, research results, and the effect of some researchmethods The use of the co-citation analysis method has effectively improvedthe retrieval percentage of precision and recall by clustering citations withconsiderable citation strength.

(5) Application to scientific evaluation Informetric data are useful in evaluating thequality of scientific papers, scientific achievements, scientific research and its

efficiency, and author reputation They also provide important basis for theplanning and management of scientific research As a current crucial socialissue, the scientific evaluation of talents demands an objective indicator based

on scientific achievements that are generally presented on papers In this case,informetric data play a significant role in talent studies Hence, universityevaluation and scientific research evaluation are crucial

(6) Application to other social disciplines Informetrics is also concerned withapplications in thefields of history, sociology, and economics

Related studies are generally included in the literature of bibliometrics and metrics In the mid-1990s, Buckland provided a comprehensive explanation ofinformation He concluded that information could have three connotations: infor-mation as a process (process information), information as knowledge (knowledgeinformation), and information as things Information as things consists of data, text,documents, objects, and events Thus, the research object of informetrics hasapparently more contents than those of bibliometrics and scientometrics and focusesmore on the quantity of information as things With its content, including messages,data, events, objects, text, and documents, the research object covers both formal andinformal communication things From the perspective of the generalized informet-rics, the quantity of process information and knowledge information should also beincluded Tagne–Sutcliffe believed that the definition and measurement of informa-tion, which were partly included in information theory, also belonged to the contents

sciento-of informetrics Therefore, informetrics comprises a wide range sciento-of research objects

Informetrics wasfirst proposed by Nacke to outline mathematical applications in allthe fields of information science Afterward, informetrics has been defined as adiscipline that describes and studies the phenomenon, process, and law of

information through a quantitative method This discipline is a new quantitativebranch of information science that is based on the combination of mathematics,statistics, and information science.

Informetrics should be understood from the“broad sense” and from the “narrowsense.” The former mainly discusses the measurement of generalized informationbased on general information theory, which is widely used Information, material,and energy are the three basic elements of the objective world Among these,information, which functions as the essential nature of objects, is a system in which

we communicate with the outside world through our sense organs to eliminateuncertainties in a system As noted by Shannon in his paper “A MathematicalTheory of Communication,” the information received by a system will help elim-inate uncertainties Thus, we conclude that similar to material and energy, infor-mation is measurable The key work should be on understanding the quantitativeprinciple and method as well as on determining relative standard Information isgenerally measured via the uncertainty degree of a system in informatic circles.Three American scientists, Shannon, Wiener, and Fischer, introduced the basicconcept of information as a unit at nearly the same time and arrived at the sameconclusion In particular, Wiener extended the concept of information and proposedthe definition and calculation formula for information quantity in his papers

“Cybernetics” and “the Human Use of Human Beings,” published in 1948 and

1950, respectively Fischer studied information measurement problems from theperspective of classical statistical theory Shannon demonstrated his achievements

in detail in his renowned works “A Mathematical Theory of Communication” in

1948 and “Communication in the Presence of Noise” in 1949 He establishedunified communication theory by considering the abstracted common characteris-tics of different signals in types of information systems after omitting specificcontent as a random event, describing information from the perspective of quantity,and conducting research on grammar and transport The theory helped solve theproblems in using different channels for the same and different information trans-missions through a single channel He also presented mathematical formulas forinformation content and defined them as the amount of eliminated uncertainty; thus,information theory was founded as an independent discipline

We generally regard information theory as a discipline that aims to studymeasurement, transmission, and changing laws using mathematical statisticalmethods Various inevitable limitations exist in resolving the semantics, utility, andfuzziness of information for the broad sense of informetrics, given that informationtheory by Shannon mainly focuses on statistical information in the context of thecommunicationfield The good news is that the rapid development of informationtechnology and the expanding research in thefield of information have led to theemerging trend of returning to information unity in quantity and quality, syntax andsemantics, and transmission and use for its research For example, Carnap proposedsemantic information problems in 1964 Chad published his papers“Fuzzy Sets” in

1965 and“Communication: Fuzzy Algorithm” in 1968, in which he proposed thatfuzzy math could be used for information processing, and information theoryestablished based on fuzzy sets can directly reflect semantic information Belize and

Gaiasufirst proposed the unified measurement of information quantity and quality

in 1968 by considering the quantity and quality of information, namely, informationutility Sharma generalized the notion of“quantity–quality” to “generalized effec-tive information” in 1978 All of the aforementioned studies and developments willhelp overcome the limitations of Shannon’s information theory (narrow sense ofinformation theory), thereby leading to and promoting the formation and general-ization of information theory The achievement and progress of generalizedinformation theory will consequently provide necessary theoretical support andspecific measurement methods to promote the continuous development of gener-alized informetrics

The so-called“special informetrics” is general informetrics that is mainly used tostudy the measurement of information (or documents) The main content includesanalyzing and dealing with the contradictions of the information process byapplying mathematics and statistics, studying the dynamic characteristics from aquantitative point of view, and determining the inherent law

During informetric study, a set of scientific concepts based on quantity, unifiedindicators, and information quantity units, as well as new quantitative approachessuitable for the nature of the information, must be established to describe theinformation phenomenon, process, and rules We, the Chinese scholars, did notachieve progress in thisfield, and problems also remain unsolved in foreign aca-demic circles Thus, a number of errors will inevitably occur with the use of onlyliterature measurement at the physical level or only literature information mea-surement based on literature content and an indirect measurement method at thegrammar level In conclusion, thefinal resolution for information measurement stilldepends on the breakthrough in research achievement in generalized informationtheory and information technology, coupled with arduous efforts from scholars both

at home and abroad

In the narrow sense of informetrics, the structure consists of theory, method, andapplication, including the following seven aspects:

(1) Discussion on several basic questions, such as the mathematical description ofthe information concept, the relationship of the research object, content, andfield with relative subjects, coupled with its formation and development(2) Fundamental measurement of information by establishing a set of indicators,such as information content, along with a discussion on measurement concepts,such as bit, content unit, information entropy, information field, and informa-tion potential

(3) Study of basic laws, including Bradford’s law, Zipf’s law, and Lotka’s law(4) Study of informationflow models, such as modeling and evaluating literaturegrowth, obsolescence, dispersion, and citation distribution

(5) Discussion on a series of quantitative methods, such as frequency ranking,principle of logarithmic perspective, application of fuzzy mathematics, infor-mation theory, set theory, and quantitative evaluation of the information uti-lization rate

(6) Study from the aspect of the automated implementation of methods and tools,particularly, computer implementation of clustering, correlation analysis, cita-tion database, measurement management information system, and word fre-quency statistic

(7) Application to the fields of library and information services, informationresource management information retrieval, information analysis and predic-tion, scientific study, and scientific evaluation

Data sources of informetrics vary with time The traditional“10 great informationsources” and new ones, such as disc data and network data, are presented in thispaper

(1) Science and technology book It refers to a source of information that tematically discusses or outlines special knowledge or subject, includingmonographs, papers, textbooks, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and handbooks.Its introduction with respect to new achievements, ideas, and technologies isgenerally not as fast as the presentation of a technology periodical because ofits longer publishing cycle

sys-(2) Technology periodical Also called serial, it is a regular or irregular tinuous publication of the literature carrier, typically with the same name Itsvolume number is set according to the time series, which is divided into anumber of periods Its shorter publishing cycle makes rapid publishingpossible, and achievements and level in various fields are reflected wellbecause it has plenty of varieties The use of a technology periodical asreference is of considerable value in obtaining first-hand information,grasping the progress of a situation, and thinking extensively The typescovered are as follows:➀ academic and technical, as the core components oftechnology periodicals, such as acta, journals, annuals, bulletins, transac-tions, proceedings, reviews, and progress/advances; ② bulletins, includingcommunications and letters;➂ news journals, such as news and newsletters;

con-➃ data journals, including data and events

(3) Technology report It is a type of literature that reports or records the results

or progress of an investigation It has different forms, such as reports,technical notes, memorandums, papers, bulletins, technical translations, andspecial publications, as well as names, including primary report, progress

report, interim report, and final report, with regard to their progressingconditions Famous examples include ASTIA Document report, NASAreport, and PB report.

(4) Conference literature It refers to documents from academic conferences,which reflect the development trend of science and technology It is char-acterized by having a short interval in presenting the latest achievements andits content is less mature than that of periodicals Conferences can generally

be international, nationwide, and regional conferences Conferences andconference literature comprise common types, namely, conference, meeting,symposium, proceeding, paper, and transaction, such as the proceeding of the

“Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology” and the specialproceeding from the Federation of European Biochemical Societies.(5) Patent documents In countries where a patent system is implemented, alllocal or foreign individuals and enterprises can fill out an application forunique inventions and submit it to the local or foreign patent office The

office will then go through the application, and individuals and enterpriseswill possess the right under protection for the inventions for a certain number

of years if they pass Such legally protected technology is what we call apatent Patents are closely related to industrial activities with extensivepracticality They can be classified into invention patent, utility patent, anddesign patent according to their technical levels and applications The patentlaw of the People’s Republic of China came into effect on April 1, 1985.(6) Standard literature Standardization is mainly reflected in three aspects:(1) product standardization, which refers to a product whose quality complieswith the technical requirements; (2) product specification and seriation, whichindicate that products should be ranked in size and developed into a series tofulfill a wide range of requirements with minimal variations; and (3) compo-nent generalization, i.e., the components of the same type of model, particu-larly the vulnerable parts, should realize maximum general interchangeability.The standard literature is generally the standard achievements given via anauthorized go-ahead, fixed with the form of documents or the basic unit(physical constant), and presented in documentation form

(7) Degree thesis It consists of papers presented to assess the bachelor’s,masteral, and doctoral degrees of undergraduates and postgraduate students

It is characterized by its originality, academic nature, and reference value,presenting the original research results under review Theses are generallynot published separately, and papers with superior quality are presented inthe professional periodicals that they are related to

(8) Product information It refers to a product sample, such as product specications A useful product information is rich in content, including productspecifications, features, patent number, and a variety of useful informationabout its production

fi-(9) Technical file It refers to technical documents that possess certain neering objects, which are formed in the production and construction pro-cesses and in the technical activities conducted by the technologydepartment.

engi-(10) Science and technology newspaper The science and technology literaturepublished in a newspaper mainly refers to news reports about technology.Newspapers report a large amount of information in a timely manner, andthus, they enable readers to acquire important scientific and technologicalnews Relevant technology columns in newspapers function as windows for

us to remain up-to-date with the latest trends both local and abroad.(11) CD data A large amount of data are organized and stored in CDs Many CDcitation index databases are established, such as CSCI, CSSCI, and CSTPC

in China and SCI-E and Engineering Index (EI) abroad All of the mentioned CD data are significant for us to perform information retrieval andscientific research evaluation

afore-(12) Network data An increasing amount of data are stored and presented on theInternet with the development of networks Search engines, such as AltaVista and Google, work as powerful tools to make make timely updating andconvenient data searching possible Such data can be classified into digital,text, sound, graphic, and multimedia data according to their content mani-festation Wanfang Data, VIP Data, Tsinghua University’s CNKI, CSSCI,CSTPC, and SCI also provide data guarantee and service for measurementand evaluation

Studies in informetrics mainly rely on domestic and foreign indexing tools, whereasapplication software mainly focuses on mathematical and statistical tools Suchtools and software are introduced as follows to capture the attention of scholars and

to make full use of them in later studies

(1) Informetric tools

① SCI

SCI is a citation index originally produced by the Institute for Scientific Information(ISI) with the collection of the author, title, source journals, summary, and keywords for literature It helps evaluate the academic value of a literature from thecitation perspective and establish a reference network of research subjects rapidlyand easily Since itsfirst publication in 1961, SCI has developed from print only to

a multidisciplinary and comprehensive retrieval system with electronic, networked,and integrated features SCI is divided into SCI, with journals coming from over

3800 types of printed and compace disc editions (SCI CDE), and SCI-E, a larger

version that covers over 6000 notable and significant journals The index isavailable online through the international online service platform and the Internet.Moreover, over 150 disciplines are included in SCI, which mainly focuses onagriculture, biology and environmental science, engineering technology and appliedscience, medicine and life sciences, physics and chemistry, and behavioral sciences.

➁ Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI)

SSCI is an interdisciplinary citation index product developed by ISI from SCI Itconducts statistical analysis on the quantity of social science papers collected fromdifferent countries and areas This citation database covers 1700 of the leadingsocial science journals worldwide across over 55 disciplines, including anthropol-ogy, law, economy, history, geography, and psychology The types of literaturecollection include research papers, reviews, discussions, editorials, autobiographies,and letters

➂ Arts and Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI)

A&HCI is a comprehensive arts and humanities journal database with indexing forover 1100 journals produced by the ISI, and disciplines covered include language,literature, philosophy, Asian studies, history, and art

➃ Essential Science Indicators (ESI)

ESI is a basic analysis and evaluation tool for measuring scientific performance andtracking development trends It has been funded by ISI since 2001 ESI also serves

as an informetric analysis database that covers over 10 million bibliographic records

of 8500 academic journals worldwide collected by SCI based on ISI, SSCI, andA&HCI) It is available through ISI Web of Science as an important part of the ISInetwork integration service platform ESI conducts statistical analysis and sorting ofcountries, research institutions, journals, papers, and scientists from 22 areas ofexpertise from the citation analysis perspective by considering the indicators ofindexed papers, citations of papers, and the average citation per paper Users canclearly understand the influence and development in a given subject areas of sci-entists, research institutions (universities), countries (cities), and academic journalsranked in certain positions the from database to identify key scientific discoveries,conduct performance assessment studies, and master science development trends.ESI is also available for analyzing international academic literature systematicallyand precisely As part of ISI Web of Knowledge, ESI provides a dynamic, inte-grated, web-based research and analysis environment for scientific research

⑤ EI

EI, founded in 1884, is a renowned comprehensive search tool that specializes inengineering and technical science published by the American EngineeringInformation, Inc With a selection of over 2000 types of engineering and technicaljournals worldwide, the recorded literature covers nearly all areas of engineeringand technology, including power, electrotechnics, electronics, automatic control,

mining, metal technology, machinery manufacturing, construction, and waterconservation EI is characterized by comprehensiveness, extensive sources ofinformation, geographic coverage, numerous and high-quality reports, andauthority Over 3500 types of scientific and technical journals and 1000 types ofconference proceedings, papers, academic presentations, science and technologybooks, almanacs and standards, and other publications worldwide are involved in

EI, with annual reports of 500,000 Publication editions include EICompendexWeb, EI Compendex, EI Microfilm, EI Compendex, and printed ver-sions (including annual and monthly editions)

⑥ Index to Scientific and Technical Proceedings (ISTP)

ISTP was founded in 1978 and edited and published by the American Society ofScientific Information Its conference proceedings cover life sciences, physical andchemical sciences, agriculture, biological and environmental sciences, engineering,and applied science, with its literature accounting for 35%

⑦ CCSI

CCSI, developed by the National Science Library of the Chinese Academy ofSciences, covers 669 types of the most important scientific journals published inChina across variousfields, including mathematics, physics, chemistry, astronau-tics, geography, biology, agriculture, medicine, and engineering technology.Approximately 2,220,000 Chinese citations are involved in the annual report lit-erature (approximately 710,000) The current publication includes a print versionand a CD version

⑧ CSTPC

CSTPC, developed by the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China(ISTIC), covers over 1600 types of Chinese science and technology core journalsacross various disciplines of natural sciences The database combines documentretrieval and statistical analysis, as well as contains functions, such as findingimportant scientific papers published in China, determining the statistical analysisand ranking results of Chinese scientific papers over the years, and clarifying thedetails of publications from various regions, departments, units, authors, disci-plines, as well as of fund-published papers

⑨ CSSCI

CSSCI, produced by Nanjing University and the Hong Kong University of Scienceand Technology, provides a wealth of data across various disciplines in thefield ofsocial science It is available through the subsystem of statistical analysis, such asauthor-issued statistics, agency-issued statistics, regional statistics, issued docu-ments of discipline distribution statistics, books, journal-cited statistics,publisher-cited statistics, author-cited statistics, and paper-cited statistics Eachstatistic can be performed separately according to discipline

⑩ Chinese journal full-text database and its citation report

This database is currently the largest continuously updating Chinese periodicalfull-text database worldwide, with an accumulated 8,000,000 full-text documents,over 15 million titles, 9 sub-albums, and 126 thematic literature databases It owns acollection of 6100 full-text core journals and professional journals, coveringTechnology A (basic sciences), Technology B (energy and material chemistry),Polytechnic C (industrial technology), agriculture, medicine and health, history andphilosophy, economics, politics and law, education and social sciences, electronictechnology, and information science

(2) Informetric application software

① Matrix Laboratory (MATLAB)

With Mathworks developing a set of calculations, graphical visualization, andediting functions into a language that is powerful, easy to operate, and easy toexpand, MATLAB has become one of the outstanding internationally recognizedmathematical application software Its powerful system consists of its core contents(language system, development environment, graphics system, math library, andapplication programming interfaces) and auxiliary toolbox (symbolic computation,image processing, optimization, statistics, and control toolbox) We are currentlyusing a new version of MATLAB6

② Statistical Analysis System (SAS)

SAS was originally developed by two graduate students at the North Carolina StateUniversity, and the company was founded in 1976 SAS exhibits comprehensivecapabilities that include data access, data management, and data analysis, and isrecognized as the standard software for data statistics and analysis in the interna-tional arena SAS is a software system that features a module-combined structurewith over 30 functional modules Written in the assembly language, SAS typicallyrequires programming that is more suitable for professional statistics personnel butdifficult to use for nonprofessionals SAS 9.2 is the newest version

③ Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS)

SPSS, SAS, and Biomedical Programs are the most influential major statisticalsoftware packages worldwide Although named SPSS to emphasize its applications

in social science (random phenomena may occur in social science research, andthus, studies require statistics and probability theorem), it also plays a significantrole in variousfields of natural sciences, being applied to a wide range of subjects,including economics, biology, education, psychology, medicine, sports, industry,agriculture, forestry, commerce, and finance SPSS includes functions such ascompletion of data entry, editing, statistical analysis, reporting, and graphic pro-duction, with 136 functions under 11 types SPSS also provides a simpledescription and complex statistical multivariate statistical analysis methods, such asexploratory data analysis, statistical description, table analysis, 2D correlation, rankcorrelation, partial correlation, ANOVA, nonparametric test, multiple regression,