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Inequalities in the growth of Web of Science

Author

Listed:
  • Raf Vanderstraeten

    (Ghent University
    The London School of Economics and Political Science)

  • Frédéric Vandermoere

    (University of Antwerp)

Abstract

The databases of Web of Science (WoS) have rapidly expanded their coverage of scientific journal during the past few decades. For the providers of WoS, this growth strategy has been a way to reduce existing biases in the coverage of these databases, especially in geographical regard. We look into the consequences of this strategy at the level of disciplines, and discuss its underlying rationales. Our analyses particularly focus on the SSCI. We first highlight interdisciplinary inequalities in the coverage of this database, and discuss why disciplines, such as Economics and Management, which are hierarchically-structured and whose journals have high impact factors in WoS, have benefited most from the growth of WoS. Their relative weight in the SSCI has grown at the expense of other disciplines. We also argue that changes in the coverage of this database have performative effects. There are winners and losers of the editorial expansion strategy of WoS in the real academic world. In the concluding section, we suggest that the providers of WoS reconsider the coverage of their databases in order to reflect and protect the interdisciplinary diversity in the world of science.

Suggested Citation

  • Raf Vanderstraeten & Frédéric Vandermoere, 2021. "Inequalities in the growth of Web of Science," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(10), pages 8635-8651, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:126:y:2021:i:10:d:10.1007_s11192-021-04143-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-021-04143-2
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    Cited by:

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    2. Joshua Eykens & Raf Guns & Raf Vanderstraeten, 2022. "Subject specialties as interdisciplinary trading grounds: the case of the social sciences and humanities," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(12), pages 7193-7213, December.
    3. Fang Liu, 2023. "Retrieval strategy and possible explanations for the abnormal growth of research publications: re-evaluating a bibliometric analysis of climate change," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(1), pages 853-859, January.

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