Current Science

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Understanding Nobel Prize-Winning Articles:A Bibliometric Analysis


Affiliations
1 WISE Lab, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, Liaoning 116023, China
2 School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47408, United States
3 School of Software, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, Liaoning 116620, China
 

In the present study, we have collected all Nobel Prize-winning articles in the field of Physiology or Medicine from the Web of Science and highlighted the journal impact distribution of these articles. We then explored reference information to understand the articles referenced by the prize-winning papers. Results show that (1) the prize-winning papers cite a large number of journals which have relatively low impact factors and not all prize-winning papers were published in high-quality journals; (2) Method, such as refined experimental techniques, laboratory manuals, etc., is the most popular article type that has been cited; (3) The prize-winning papers, especially recently published ones, show an increasing trend to cite earlier published articles as references.

Keywords

Bibliometric Analysis, Normal and Revolutionary Science, Nobel Prize-Winning Articles, Reference Information.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Kuhn, T. S., Normal science as puzzle-solving. In The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (ed. Neurath, O.), The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, USA, 1963, pp. 35-43.

  • Casadevall, A. and Fang, F. C., Revolutionary science. mBio., 2016, 7, e00158-16.

  • Charlton, B. G., Measuring revolutionary biomedical science 1992-2006 using Nobel Prizes, Lasker (clinical medicine) awards and Gairdner awards (NLG metric). Med. Hypotheses, 2017, 69, 1-5.

  • Rodríguez-Navarro, A., Measuring research excellence. J. Doc., 2011, 67, 582-600.

  • Shelton, R. D. and Holdridge, G. M., The US-EU race for leadership of science and technology: qualitative and quantitative indicators. Scientometrics, 2004, 60, 353-363.

  • Hu, X. and Luo, J., A warning for Chinese academic evaluation systems: short-term bibliometric measures misjudge the value of pioneering contributions. J. Zhejiang Univ. Sci. B, 2018, 19, 1-5.

  • Hu, X. and Rousseau, R., Nobel Prize winners 2016: igniting or sparking foundational publications? Scientometrics, 2017, 110, 1053-1063.

  • Mazloumian, A., Eom, Y.-H., Helbing, D., Lozano, S. and Fortunato, S., How citation boosts promote scientific paradigm shifts and Nobel Prizes. PLoS ONE, 2011, 6, 1-6.

  • Tong, S. and Ahlgren, P., Evolution of three Nobel Prize themes and a Nobel snub theme in chemistry: a bibliometric study with focus on international collaboration. Scientometrics, 2017, 112, 75-90.

  • Iwami, S., Mori, J., Sakata, I. and Kajikawa, Y., Detection method of emerging leading papers using time transition. Scientometrics, 2014, 101, 1515-1533.

  • Wu, L., Wang, D. and Evans, J. A., Large teams have developed science and technology; small teams have disrupted it. 2017; arXiv:1709.02445.

  • van Raan, A. F. J., Sleeping beauties in science. Scientometrics, 2004, 59, 467-472.

  • Hu, Z. and Wu, Y., A probe into causes of non-citation based on survey data. Soc. Sci. Inf., 2018, 57, 139-151.

  • Hu, Z. and Wu, Y. S., Regularity in the time-dependent distribution of the percentage of never-cited papers: an empirical pilot study based on the six journals. J. Informetr., 2014, 8, 136- 146.

  • Uzzi, B., Mukherjee, S., Stringer, M. and Jones, B., Atypical combinations and scientific impact. Science, 2013, 342, 468-472.

  • Andrianantoandro, E., Basu, S., Karig, D. K. and Weiss, R., Synthetic biology: new engineering rules for an emerging discipline. Mol. Syst. Biol., 2006, 2, 1-14.

  • Purnick, P. E. M. and Weiss, R., The second wave of synthetic biology: from modules to systems. Nature Rev. Mol. Cell Biol., 2009, 10, 410-422.

  • Thor, A., Marx, W., Leydesdorff, L. and Bornmann, L., Introducing CitedReferencesExplorer (CRExplorer): a program for reference publication year spectroscopy with cited references standardization. J. Informetr., 2016, 10, 503-515.

  • Garfield, E., Citation indexes for science. Science, 1955, 122, 108-111.

  • Garfield, E., Historiographic mapping of knowledge domains literature. J. Inf. Sci., 2004, 30, 119-145.

  • Thor, A., Bornmann, L., Marx, W. and Mutz, R., Identifying single influential publications in a research field: New analysis opportunities of the CRExplorer. Scientometrics, 2018, 116, 591- 608.

  • Wasi, N. and Flaaen, A., Record linkage using Stata: preprocessing, linking, and reviewing utilities. Stata J., 2015, 15, 672-697.

  • Kuhn, T. S., The essential tension: tradition and innovation in scientific research? In The Essential Tension, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, USA, 1976, pp. 225-240.

  • Foster, J. G., Rzhetsky, A. and Evans, J. A., Tradition and innovation in scientists’ research strategies. Am. Sociol. Rev., 2015, 80, 875-908.

  • Garfield, E., Can citation indexing be automated? In Statistical Association Methods for Mechanized Documentation, National Bureau of Standards, Washington, USA, 1965.

  • Bornmann, L. and Daniel, H. D., What do citation counts measure? a review of studies on citing behavior. J. Doc., 2008, 64, 45-80.

  • Price, D. J. D. S., Citation measures of hard science, soft science, technology, and nonscience. In Little Science, Big Science…and Beyond, Columbia University Press, New York, USA, 1986, pp. 155-180.


Abstract Views: 549

PDF Views: 125




  • Understanding Nobel Prize-Winning Articles:A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract Views: 549  |  PDF Views: 125

Authors

Guoqiang Liang
WISE Lab, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, Liaoning 116023, China
Haiyan Hou
WISE Lab, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, Liaoning 116023, China
Peili Ren
WISE Lab, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, Liaoning 116023, China
Yi Bu
School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47408, United States
Xiangjie Kong
School of Software, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, Liaoning 116620, China
Zhigang Hu
WISE Lab, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, Liaoning 116023, China

Abstract


In the present study, we have collected all Nobel Prize-winning articles in the field of Physiology or Medicine from the Web of Science and highlighted the journal impact distribution of these articles. We then explored reference information to understand the articles referenced by the prize-winning papers. Results show that (1) the prize-winning papers cite a large number of journals which have relatively low impact factors and not all prize-winning papers were published in high-quality journals; (2) Method, such as refined experimental techniques, laboratory manuals, etc., is the most popular article type that has been cited; (3) The prize-winning papers, especially recently published ones, show an increasing trend to cite earlier published articles as references.

Keywords


Bibliometric Analysis, Normal and Revolutionary Science, Nobel Prize-Winning Articles, Reference Information.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv116%2Fi3%2F379-385