A bibliometric study of human–computer interaction research activity in the Nordic-Baltic Eight countries

Abstract

Human–computer interaction (HCI) has become an important area for designers and developers worldwide, and research activities set in national cultural contexts addressing local challenges are often needed in industry and academia. This study explored HCI research in the Nordic-Baltic countries using bibliometric methods. The results show that the activity varies greatly across the region with activities dominated by Finland, Sweden, and Denmark, even when adjusting for differences in population size and GDP. Research output variations were larger for the top-tier conferences compared to entry-tier conferences and journals. Locally hosted conferences were associated with local increases in research activity. HCI research longevity appears to be an indicator of research maturity and quantity. HCI researchers typically collaborated either with colleagues within the same institution or with researchers from countries outside the Nordic-Baltic region such as US and the UK. There was less collaboration between national and Nordic-Baltic partners. Collaboration appeared especially prevalent for top-tier conference papers. Top-tier conference papers were also more frequently cited than regional-tier and entry-tier conferences, yet journal articles were cited the most. One implication of this study is that the HCI research activity gaps across the Nordic-Baltic countries should be narrowed by increasing the activity in countries with low research outputs. To achieve this, first-time authors could receive guidance through collaborations with experienced authors in the same institution or other labs around the world. More conferences could also be hosted locally. Furthermore, journals may be more effective than conferences if the goal is to accumulate citations.

Starstruck by journal prestige and citation counts? On students’ bias and perceptions of trustworthiness according to clues in publication references

“…Regardless, trained researchers may be more driven by specific knowledge about the prestige and perceived quality of specific publication channels than the category itself. This is especially the case in disciplines where the distinction between conference and journal publications is becoming less important (Sandnes, 2021a ). However, as evidenced by the results, it is hard for untrained readers to assess the quality of the publication channel simply based on its name.…”

“…However, it may also seem intuitive, especially for students who have first-hand experience with sociocultural learning and teamwork, that research resulting from collaborations that draw on varied expertise of a team would be of higher quality and consequently become more frequently cited than lone-wolf research. Indeed, the results of several studies support this view (Bartneck & Hu, 2010 ; Bu et al, 2018a , 2018b ; Larivière et al, 2015 ; Melin & Persson, 1996 ; Sandnes, 2021a ; Wuchty et al, 2007 ; Xu et al, 2015 ). Contrastively Aksnes and Aagaard ( 2021 ) pointed out that “there is a common perception of highly cited researchers as individual geniuses who can be singled out for their extraordinary contributions”.…”

“…Still, this dichotomy is less relevant in fields where results are predominantly published as monographs. Also, it may increasingly be less important in certain fields such as areas within computer science where quality conferences are valued on par with prestigious journals (Franceschet, 2010 ; Kim, 2019 ; Lee, 2019 ; Mannocci et al, 2019 ; Sandnes, 2021a ). We thus formulated the following hypothesis:…”

Bibliometric Analysis of the Research Landscape in Human-Computer Interaction in Ibero-America

“…Brazil, represented by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, follows closely with 358 papers, another important player in the Ibero-American domain of HCI research. In particular, the strong presence of European entities, as Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, underlines the critical role of Europe as a significant contributor to funding in the region, as discussed in the scientific literature [11]. In this line, it is essential to indicate that the sponsoring entities come not only from governmental entities but also from private technology companies, where Microsoft, Nvidia, IBM, and Google are represented [35].…”

“…Applying bibliometrics in the HCI domain in Ibero-America will allow an understanding of the scientific production in the region, identifying challenges and lines of research and effectively orienting the domain of study [10]. In this line, some bibliometric studies have been conducted on the HCI domain in different contexts, as is the case of [11], who use bibliometric methods to investigate HCI in the Nordic-Baltic countries, where the results revealed that the leading countries are Finland, Sweden, and Denmark. Collaboration with foreign researchers was more frequent than domestic, and research gaps should be reduced by increasing activity in countries with low research output and encouraging collaboration with experienced authors.…”