The Dynamics of Triads in Aggregated Journal-Journal Citation Relations: Specialty Developments at the Above-Journal Level; preprint

[Loet Leydesdorff]

The Dynamics of Triads in Aggregated Journal-Journal Citation Relations:
<http://arxiv.org/abs/1504.05840> 
Specialty Developments at the Above-Journal Level


Wouter de Nooy <http://arxiv.org/find/cs/1/au:+Nooy_W/0/1/0/all/0/1> , Loet
Leydesdorff <http://arxiv.org/find/cs/1/au:+Leydesdorff_L/0/1/0/all/0/1> 

 

Dyads of journals related by citations can agglomerate into specialties
through the mechanism of triadic closure. Using the Journal Citation Reports
2011, 2012, and 2013, we analyze triad formation as indicators of
integration (specialty growth) and disintegration (restructuring). The
strongest integration is found among the large journals that report on
studies in different scientific specialties, such as PLoS ONE, Nature
Communications, Nature, and Science. This tendency towards large-scale
integration has not yet stabilized. Using the Islands algorithm, we also
distinguish 51 local maxima of integration. We zoom into the cited articles
that carry the integration for: (i) a new development within high-energy
physics and (ii) an emerging interface between the journals Applied
Mathematical Modeling and the International Journal of Advanced
Manufacturing Technology. In the first case, integration is brought about by
a specific communication reaching across specialty boundaries, whereas in
the second, the dyad of journals indicates an emerging interface between
specialties. These results suggest that integration picks up substantive
developments at the specialty level. An advantage of the bottom-up method is
that no ex ante classification of journals is assumed in the dynamic
analysis. 

 

Accepted for publication in Journal of Informetrics

Preprint available at http://arxiv.org/abs/1504.05840

 

** apologies for cross-postings

 

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University of Amsterdam
Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR)

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