Bibliometrics

Quantitative methods used in the study of texts and information. Bibliometrics techniques are used to derive statistics about the spread of ideas through content analysis and citation analysis, particularly in library and information sciences. Citation analysis involves examination of the frequency with which persons (or articles they have written) are being referenced, most often to assess merit. Citation indexes, such as the Institute for Scientific Information's Web of Science, traces the path of information flow from a selected article to recent papers in which the known item is cited. Such data can be used to determine the popularity and impact of authors, ideas, and publications. Tenure review, the transmission of ideas from author to author, and identification of crucial papers often involves this sort of analysis.