Early in the 2000th years so-called science maps entered bibliometrics and scientometrics. (Börner et al. 2003) Mapping the disciplinary structure of the sciences has become a booming business since. Science maps can have different functions: to evaluate institutions and groups (Klavans&Boyack 2010); to characterize funded scientific networks (see Akdag et al. 2013); or to science-locate the profile of a researcher. A new paper by Boyack and Klavans (2013) discusses the state of the art in science maps and introduces a new function for science maps, namely their role for scientific planning.
References
Almila Akdag Sahal, Sally Wyatt, Samir Passi, Andrea Scharnhorst (2013) Mapping EINS — An exercise in mapping the Network of Excellence in Internet Science. Conference Proceedings of the First International Conference on Internet Science, April 9-11, 2013 Brussels. Pages 75-78 (http://arxiv.org/abs/1304.5753)
Börner, K., Chen, C., & Boyack, K. W. (2003). Visualizing knowledge domains. Annual Review of Information Science and Technology 37, 179-255.
Boyack, K. W., & Klavans, R. (2013). Creation of a highly detailed, dynamic, global model and map of science. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, (forthcoming). Preprint
Klavans, R., & Boyack, K. W. (2010). Toward an objective, reliable, and accurate method for measuring research leadership. Scientometrics, 82(3), 539-553.
