Journal of Scientometric Research, 2023, 12, 2, 509-519.
DOI: 10.5530/jscires.12.2.048
Published: September 2023
Type: Perspective Paper
Yves Fassin1,2, Ronald Rousseau2,3,*
1Department of Marketing, Innovation, and Organisation, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Gent, BELGIUM.
2University of Antwerp, Middelheimlaan 1, Faculty of Social Sciences, Antwerp, BELGIUM.
3KU Leuven, MSI, Facultair Onderzoekscentrum ECOOM, Naamsestraat 61, Leuven, BELGIUM.
Abstract:
This article analyses the evolution of the most-used terms referring to the (broad) field of bibliometrics. It compares the number of publications on bibliometrics, scientometrics, informetrics, web(o)metrics, altmetrics, and the science of science, in three international databases, the Web of Science, Scopus, and Dimensions. We found that the relative number of documents using one of the metrics-related terms is showing a more than exponential increase. This illustrates the increasing importance of metrics in the world of science. While most terms separately show a clear increase in use, web(o)metrics and perhaps, informetrics, seem to have reached their top. Bibliometrics and scientometrics are the most-used terms, with, nowadays, the term bibliometrics being used about five times more than the term scientometrics. Any comprehensive bibliometric study should make use of a combination of related keywords to cover the whole field of study.
Keywords: Bibliometrics, Scientometrics, Informetrics, Webmetrics, Altmetrics, Science of science, Quantitative science studies, Database queries.