An integrated approach for main path analysis: Development of the Hirsch index as an example

This study enhances main path analysis by proposing several variants to the original approach. Main path analysis is a bibliometric method capable of tracing the most significant paths in a citation network and is commonly used to trace the development trajectory of a research field. We highlight se...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 2012-03, Vol.63 (3), p.528-542
Main Authors: Liu, John S., Lu, Louis Y.Y.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bibliometrics
Bibliometrics. Scientometrics
Bibliometrics. Scientometrics. Evaluation
Citation analysis
Divergence
Exact sciences and technology
Hirsch index
Information and communication sciences
Information science
Information science. Documentation
Integrated approach
Library and information science. General aspects
Methods
Path Analysis
Scholarly publishing
Sciences and techniques of general use
Studies
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Summary:This study enhances main path analysis by proposing several variants to the original approach. Main path analysis is a bibliometric method capable of tracing the most significant paths in a citation network and is commonly used to trace the development trajectory of a research field. We highlight several limitations of the original main path analysis and suggest new, complementary approaches to overcome these limitations. In contrast to the original local main path, the new approaches generate the global main path, the backward local main path, multiple main paths, and key‐route main paths. Each of them is obtained via a perspective different from the original approach. By simultaneously conducting the new, complementary approaches, one uncovers the key development of the target discipline from a broader view. To demonstrate the value of these new approaches, we simultaneously apply them to a set of academic articles related to the Hirsch index. The results show that the integrated approach discovers several paths that are not captured by the original approach. Among these new approaches, the key‐route approach is especially useful and hints at a divergence–convergence–divergence structure in the development of the Hirsch index.
ISSN:1532-2882
2330-1635
1532-2890
2330-1643
DOI:10.1002/asi.21692