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A proposal to define a core of a scientific subject: A definition using concentration and fuzzy sets

Author

Listed:
  • Leo Egghe

    (Diepenbeek LUC, Universitaire Campus)

  • Ronald Rousseau

Abstract

Determining the core of a field"s literature, i.e. its "most important" sources, has been and still is an important problem in bibliometrics. In this article an exact definition of a core of a bibliography or a conglomerate is presented. The main ingredients for this definition are: fuzzy set theory, Lorenz curves and concentration measures. If one prefers a strict delineation, the fuzzy core can easily be defuzzified. The method we propose does not depend on the subjective notion of "importance". It is, moreover, completely reproducible. The method and the resulting core is also independent of the mathematical function (Lotka, Zipf, Bradford, etc.) that may be used to describe the relation between the set of sources and that of items.

Suggested Citation

  • Leo Egghe & Ronald Rousseau, 2002. "A proposal to define a core of a scientific subject: A definition using concentration and fuzzy sets," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 54(1), pages 51-62, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:54:y:2002:i:1:d:10.1023_a:1015680304126
    DOI: 10.1023/A:1015680304126
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Leo Egghe & Ronald Rousseau, 2001. "Symmetric and Asymmetric Theory of Relative Concentration and Applications," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 52(2), pages 261-290, October.
    2. Leo Egghe & Ronald Rousseau, 2000. "Aging, obsolescence, impact, growth, and utilization: Definitions and relations," Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 51(11), pages 1004-1017.
    3. L. Egghe, 1990. "Applications of the theory of Bradford's Law to the calculation of Leimkuhler's Law and to the completion of bibliographies," Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 41(7), pages 469-492, October.
    4. M. Bonitz & E. Bruckner & Andrea Scharnhorst, 1999. "The matthew index—Concentration patterns and Matthew core journals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 44(3), pages 361-378, March.
    5. Katherine W. McCain, 1995. "Biotechnology in context: A database‐filtering approach to identifying core and productive non‐core journals supporting multidisciplinary R & D," Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 46(4), pages 306-317, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Rafael Aleixandre & Juan Carlos Valderrama & José María Desantes & Antonio J. Torregrosa, 2004. "Identification of information sources and citation patterns in the field of reciprocating internal combustion engines," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 59(3), pages 321-336, March.
    2. Quentin L. Burrell, 2003. "Defining a core: Theoretical observations on the Egghe-Rousseau proposal," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 57(1), pages 75-92, May.
    3. Fabíola Kaczam & Julio Cezar Mairesse Siluk & Gil Eduardo Guimaraes & Gilnei Luiz Moura & Wesley Vieira Silva & Claudimar Pereira Veiga, 2022. "Establishment of a typology for startups 4.0," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 649-680, April.
    4. Cleomar Marcos Fabrizio & Fabíola Kaczam & Gilnei Luiz Moura & Luciana Santos Costa Vieira Silva & Wesley Vieira Silva & Claudimar Pereira Veiga, 2022. "Competitive advantage and dynamic capability in small and medium-sized enterprises: a systematic literature review and future research directions," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 617-648, April.
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    6. Bar-Ilan, Judit, 2008. "Informetrics at the beginning of the 21st century—A review," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 1-52.
    7. Shir Aviv-Reuven & Ariel Rosenfeld, 2023. "A logical set theory approach to journal subject classification analysis: intra-system irregularities and inter-system discrepancies in Web of Science and Scopus," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(1), pages 157-175, January.

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