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Co-word analysis and thematic landscapes in Spanish information science literature, 1985–2014

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Abstract

This paper discusses the thematic backdrop for Spanish library and information science output. It draws from Web of Science records on papers authored by researchers at Spanish institutions and published under the category ‘Information Science & Library Science’ between 1985 and 2014. Two analytical techniques were used, one based on co-keyword and the other on document co-citation networks. Burst detection was applied to noun phrases and references of the intellectual base. Co-citation analysis identified nine research fronts: ‘digital rights management’, ‘citation analysis’, ‘translation services’, ‘bibliometric analysis’, ‘co-authorship’, ‘electronic books’, ‘webometrics’, ‘information systems’ and ‘world wide web’. The most recent trends in the subject areas addressed in Spain were found to lie in metrics-related sub-specialities: the h-index, scientific collaboration, journal bibliometric indicators, rankings, universities and webometrics.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the insightful comments and suggestions provided by anonymous reviewers. The authors wish to thank Margaret Clark, translator, for her linguistic support.

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  1. Department of Library & Information Science, Carlos III University, Madrid, Spain

    Carlos Olmeda-Gómez, Maria-Antonia Ovalle-Perandones & Antonio Perianes-Rodríguez

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  1. Carlos Olmeda-Gómez
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  2. Maria-Antonia Ovalle-Perandones
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Correspondence to Carlos Olmeda-Gómez.

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Olmeda-Gómez, C., Ovalle-Perandones, MA. & Perianes-Rodríguez, A. Co-word analysis and thematic landscapes in Spanish information science literature, 1985–2014. Scientometrics 113, 195–217 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-017-2486-8

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