Hot and cold spots in the US research: A spatial analysis of bibliometric data on the institutional level

Abstract

Spatial bibliometrics addresses the spatial aspects of scientific research activities. In this case study, we use the Getis–Ord G∗ i ( d) statistic for bibliometric data on US institutions to identify hot spots of institutions on a map publishing many high-impact papers. The study is based on a dataset with performance data (proportion and number of papers belonging to the 10% most frequently cited papers) and geo-coordinates for all institutions in the United States from the SCImago group (and Scopus). The Getis-Ord Gi* statistic returns, for each institution on a map, a z score. Higher z scores point to intense clustering of institutions, which have published a large proportion or number of highly cited papers (hot spots). The US maps, which we generate as examples in this study, point to four regions. These regions can be labelled as hot spots: around San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston and Washington, DC. The empirical focus on institutional hot spots in a country using bibliometric data is of specific importance for science policy, because geospatial proximity is shown as an important factor for innovation processes.

Scopus as a curated, high-quality bibliometric data source for academic research in quantitative science studies

“…Another form of common analysis performed using Scopus data is around network visualization and spatial bibliometrics (Bornmann & De Moya Anegón, 2019;Bornmann & Waltman, 2011;Leydesdorff & Persson, 2010;Mutz, Bornmann, de Moya Anegón, & Stefaner, 2014) as well as research building new visualization techniques (Leydesdorff, 2010;Mischo & Schlembach, 2018).…”

Exploring the changing geographical pattern of international scientific collaborations through the prism of cities

“…To varying degrees, cities are major sites of science production in terms of the number of publications and citations. The question regarding how cities participate in global science is extensively analyzed in the growing field of spatial scientometrics [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52].…”

“…Bornmann and de Moya-Anegón [37] mapped German cities, with most papers belonging to the 1% most frequently cited papers, within their subject area and publication year. Bornmann and de Moya-Anegón [38] detected hot and cold spots in the United States based on bibliometric data produced by institutions. Other researchers investigated some additional aspects of cities' participation in science.…”

On the challenges ahead of spatial scientometrics focusing on the city level

“…Some relevant works are listed below: The paper authored by Matthiessen and Schwarz (1999) presents an analysis of scientific strength by output produced by authors from the “greater” urban regions of Europe. Bornmann et al (2011) and Bornmann and Leydesdorff (2011, 2012) identify and map cities which are considered to be centres of excellence in scientific research on the basis of the size and frequency of the production of highly cited papers. Bornmann and de Moya-Anegón (2018) map German cities, with most papers belonging to the 1 per cent most frequently cited papers, within their subject area and publication year. Bornmann and de Moya-Anegón (2019) detect hot and cold spots in the USA based on bibliometric data produced by institutions. Maisonobe et al (2016, 2017) investigate cities’ publication output and collaboration network from different aspects while Grossetti et al (2014) examine the global and national deconcentration of scientific activities through the prism of cities. Csomós and Tóth (2016) explore the spatial distribution of scientific publications created by multinational corporations from two geographical approaches. Csomós (2018a) examines the publication dynamics, collaboration pattern and disciplinary profile of more than 2,000 cities worldwide while Csomós (2018b) reveals factors that may influence cities’ publication efficiency (i.e.…”

“…Bornmann and de Moya-Anegón (2018) map German cities, with most papers belonging to the 1 per cent most frequently cited papers, within their subject area and publication year. Bornmann and de Moya-Anegón (2019) detect hot and cold spots in the USA based on bibliometric data produced by institutions.…”