A bibliometric analysis and basic model introduction of opinion dynamics

Abstract

Information exchange and dissemination happen among individuals in a group or social network, which is an inevitable process before the formation of the group and individual opinions. Opinion dynamics is a multidisciplinary research field that models information/opinion exchange processes to simulate the dynamic of opinions in networks with different scales and features. The research on the dynamic of opinions is complex because the involved interactions with individuals are complicated. Many pieces of research and reviews have been conducted on relative models focusing on diverse aspects. Unlike the existing studies, this paper develops a bibliometric analysis and brief introduction of opinion dynamics by science mapping from a relatively macroscopical perspective. Bibliometrics tools such as VOS Viewer and Cite Space are applied to figure out the collaborative relationship networks of countries/regions, organizations, and authors, the bibliographic coupling analysis of documents, and the detection and clusters of keywords. A basic and brief introduction of the Ising model, Voter model, Majority model, Sznajd model, and Bounded confidence model are also given. This paper is propaedeutic material for readers who want to grasp the fundamental knowledge of opinion dynamics on what it is, how it develops, what the hotspots are, which articles to read, and what the cooperative relationship looks like.