Cognitive Changes in Scientometrics during the 1980s, as Reflected by the Reference Patterns of its Core Journal

Abstract

The journal Scientometrics (and the research field it represents) has moved slightly from the `soft' towards the `harder' sciences. This proposition has been tested and supported by analyzing the references of the research articles published in the journal in the periods 1980-81 and 1990-91, respectively.

Sources Cited in the Journal of Research in Music Education: 1953 to 2015

“…. organized around the journal” is a positive marker of journal and discipline health (Schubert & Maczelka, 1993, p. 577) and a common characteristic of scientific research where specific journals are valued more so than others (Fanelli & Glänzel, 2013, p. 6). Although this is a positive sign, we also need to remember the need to broaden our sources across areas, including those not in music, to enhance our perspectives.…”

“…Other observations show that music education research has matured as a field with well-established journals, seasoned influential scholars, and archetypical articles. Like Schubert and Maczelka (1993), we wanted to better understand trends and shifts in how scholars are carrying out research in our field and how the enterprise has changed over time based on bibliometric evidence. Together, these results and those of other bibliometric studies in music education suggest that we are citing from a healthy pool of source materials and selecting a mix of archetypical works and newer findings.…”

“…Findings from these “research-on-research” studies have identified the major outlets involved in disseminating research results (e.g., Garfield, 1972; Tahai & Rigsby, 1998), confirmed the long-term impact of articles (e.g., Nicholas et al, 2005; Walters, 2011), and highlighted the interdisciplinarity and interconnectedness among cited sources (Narin et al, 1972; Porter & Rafols, 2009). In addition, these investigations have underscored the importance of specific articles, individuals, and journals (Meho & Yang, 2007; Pasadeos et al, 1999), the application of which has been used by bibliometricians to gauge the maturation of research journals and their concomitant fields of study (e.g., Jones et al, 1972; Schubert & Maczelka, 1993).…”

The field‐specific reference patterns of periodical and nonserial publications

“…In previous studies of referencing characteristics, the most commonly used indicators including the percentage of references to serials, the mean references age, and the mean reference rate have been applied in different disciplines and periods (Peritz & Bar‐Ilan, ; Schöpflin & Glänzel, ; Wouters & Leydesdorff, ). The most commonly used bibliometric measure of reference ageing is the Price Index (Glänzel & Schöpflin, ; Schubert & Maczelka, ), which correlates with the mean age of references for literature with fast ageing. In this study, four indicators, the mean reference rate per page, the percentage of references to WoS journal literature, the mean reference age, and Price Index, were used to analyze the general reference features of the publication groups across fields.…”

“…The Price index is an identifier for hardness of sciences (de Solla Price, ; Schöpflin & Glänzel, ; Schubert & Maczelka, ): the harder a science is, the higher its Price Index. According to Moed (, p. 474), the Price index is “the percentage of references in the scientific literature to 0 to 4 years old other publications.” The references published before 1200 and after 2014 were excluded in the calculation.…”