Scientific Contribution of Professor Mahalanobis:A Bio-Bibliometric Study

Abstract

On the 125th birth anniversary of Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, the authors analyse characteristic features, pattern and citation impact of the great Indian scientist and statistician's scientific works. A bibliography of his scientific contributions was prepared. It contained 6 books, 142 journal articles, 87 conference papers and 38 research reports. The study categorizes and presents the data according to year-wise contribution, authorship pattern, collaborators, preferred journals for communication, country-wise publications, top cited authors, citation history and citation impact. The study revealed that his research productivity peaked during 1934 to 1938 at the ages 41-45, with contribution of 77 scientific works. Further, the citation history of top 11 cited papers during 1990-2017 indicates that his publications are still being cited regularly which proves the continued relevance of his theory and applications over time.

Untitled

“…Similarly, patents reflect technological innovation and contribution. Scientometric researchers widely use citation counts as a proxy for scientific and technological influence [24][25][26] and also apply this bibliometric approach to assess the scientific contributions of individual scientists [27,28]. This methodology indicates that research influence is not distinguished from scientific contribution.…”

Untitled

“…Similarly, patents reflect technological innovation and contribution. Scientometric researchers widely use citation counts as a proxy for scientific and technological influence [24][25][26] and also apply this bibliometric approach to assess the scientific contributions of individual scientists [27,28]. This methodology indicates that research influence is not distinguished from scientific contribution.…”