Hyperlinks as a data source for science mapping

Harries, Gareth; Wilkinson, David; Price, Liz; Fairclough, Ruth; Thelwall, Mike

doi:10.1177/0165551504046736

Cited by 43 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…There are remarkable differences between some disciplines in this regard. For instance, we found more Web/URL citations from both personal and institutional CVs in chemistry (34%) and less in biology (14%) (see also Harries, Wilkinson, Price, Fairclough, & Thelwall, 2004). Most notably, in biology we found more Web/URL citations from institutional CVs, generally from the Web sites of biosciences and biotechnology labs.…”

Section: Self-publicity Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 78%

How is science cited on the Web? A classification of google unique Web citations

Kousha

Thelwall

2007

J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci.

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Although the analysis of citations in the scholarly literature is now an established and relatively well understood part of information science, not enough is known about citations that can be found on the Web. In particular, are there new Web types, and if so, are these trivial or potentially useful for studying or evaluating research communication? We sought evidence based upon a sample of 1,577 Web citations of the URLs or titles of research articles in 64 open-access journals from biology, physics, chemistry, and computing. Only 25% represented intellectual impact, from references of Web documents (23%) and other informal scholarly sources (2%). Many of the Web/URL citations were created for general or subject-specific navigation (45%) or for self-publicity (22%). Additional analyses revealed significant disciplinary differences in the types of Google unique Web/URL citations as well as some characteristics of scientific openaccess publishing on the Web. We conclude that the Web provides access to a new and different type of citation information, one that may therefore enable us to measure different aspects of research, and the research process in particular; but to obtain good information, the different types should be separated.

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Section: Self-publicity Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 78%

How is science cited on the Web? A classification of google unique Web citations

Kousha

Thelwall

2007

J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci.

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“…Perhaps certain pairs are connected only by recreational links even though informal scholarly communication links predominate within the whole set. It is known that links are used in different ways on the web, for example with considerable differences between academic disciplines (Harries, Wilkinson, Price, Fairclough, & Thelwall, 2004). Similarly, individual sites may be 'famous' for one thing, perhaps an unusual one such as a mathematical document format conversion program or a clickable geographic map of university web sites (Thelwall, 2002).…”

Section: Variety Trends and Uniformitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Almost paradoxically, imitation within an online community can promote variety between different communities. For instance one academic field may tend to link to personal home pages whereas another may tend to link to electronic journals (Harries et al, 2004). Of course the availability of useful resources for a given community (e.g., electronic journals) can also be a powerful factor triggering imitation.…”

Section: Variety Trends and Uniformitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Interpreting social science link analysis research: A theoretical framework

Thelwall

2005

J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci.

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Link analysis in various forms is now an established technique in many different subjects, reflecting the perceived importance of links and that of the web. A critical but very difficult issue is how to interpret the results of social science link analyses. It is argued that the dynamic nature of the web, its lack of quality control and the online proliferation of copying and imitation mean that methodologies operating within a highly positivist, quantitative framework are ineffective. Conversely, the sheer variety of the web makes qualitative methodologies and pure reason very problematic to apply to large-scale studies. Methodology triangulation is consequently advocated, in combination with a warning that the web is incapable of giving definitive answers to large-scale link analysis research questions concerning social factors underlying link creation. Finally, it is claimed that whilst theoretical frameworks with which to guide research are appropriate, a Theory of Link Analysis is not possible.

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“…As Harries et al (2004) phrase it, web link creation is a "social activity that inspires imitation, the opposite of statistical independence" (Harries et al, 2004: 439). Even without completely dismissing link statistics, we should always remember that most statistical tests assume that the dataset complies with a normal distribution, whereas link distributions globally obey power laws (Barabasi, 2003).…”

Section: Promises Of Automationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a hyperlinked society: A critical review of link studies

Maeyer

2012

New Media & Society

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Abstract:The hyperlink is a fundamental feature of the web. This paper investigates how hyperlinks have been used as research objects in social sciences. Reviewing a large body of literature belonging to sociology, political sciences, information sciences, geography or media studies, it particularly reflects on the study of hyperlinks as indicators of other social phenomena. Why are links counted and hyperlink networks measured? How are links interpreted? The paper then focuses on barriers and limitations to the study of links. It addresses the issue of unobtrusiveness, the importance of interpreting links in context, and the possibilities of large--scale, automatic link studies. We finally argue that the studies reviewed make a powerful case for mixing methods. Link studies are a supplementary tool in the social science researcher's toolbox: they should be used when relevant, and are only worthwhile when triangulated with other web--based and non web--based methods.

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Hyperlinks as a data source for science mapping

Cited by 43 publications

References 35 publications

How is science cited on the Web? A classification of google unique Web citations

How is science cited on the Web? A classification of google unique Web citations

Interpreting social science link analysis research: A theoretical framework

Towards a hyperlinked society: A critical review of link studies

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