RT Journal Article
T1 The need to develop tailored tools for improving the quality of thematic bibliometric analyses: Evidence from papers published in Sustainability and Scientometrics
A1 Cabezas-Clavijo, Álvaro
A1 Milanés Guisado, Yusnelkis
A1 Alba-Ruiz, Rubén
A1 Delgado-Vázquez, Ángel M.
K1 Thematic bibliometric analyses
K1 Sustainability
K1 Scientometrics
K1 Reproducibility
K1 Methodological quality
AB Purpose: The aim of this article is to explore up to seven parameters related to themethodological quality and reproducibility of thematic bibliometric research published in thetwo most productive journals in bibliometrics, Sustainability (a journal outside the discipline)and Scientometrics, the flagship journal in the field.Design/methodology/approach: The study identifies the need for developing tailored toolsfor improving the quality of thematic bibliometric analyses, and presents a framework thatcan guide the development of such tools. A total of 508 papers are analysed, 77% ofSustainability, and 23% published in Scientometrics, for the 2019-2021 period.Findings: An average of 2.6 shortcomings per paper was found for the whole sample, withan almost identical number of flaws in both journals. Sustainability has more flaws thanScientometrics in four of the seven parameters studied, while Scientometrics has moreshortcomings in the remaining three variables.Research limitations: The first limitation of this work is that it is a study of two scientificjournals, so the results cannot be directly extrapolated to the set of thematic bibliometricanalyses published in journals from all fields.Practical implications: We propose the adoption of protocols, guidelines, and other similar tools, adapted to bibliometric practice, which could increase the thoroughness, transparency,and reproducibility of this type of research.Originality/value: These results show considerable room for improvement in terms of theadequate use and breakdown of methodological procedures in thematic bibliometric research,both in journals in the Information Science area and journals outside the discipline.
SN 2096-157X
YR 2023
FD 2023-11-20
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10433/16803
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10433/16803
LA en
NO Journal of Data and Information Science, 8(4), 10–35.
NO A very preliminary version of this paper (“Methodological shortcomings of bibliometric papers published in the journal Sustainability (2019-2020)”) was presented at the 26th International Conference on Science and Technology Indicators (STI 2022). We are grateful for the ideas and suggestions expressed by several of the attendees, which have contributed to significantly deepening and broadening the initial study.
NO Universidad Internacional de La Rioja (UNIR)
NO Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves
DS RIO
RD May 22, 2026