Bibliometric Analysis of Visualizations in Computer Graphics: A Study

Abstract

This study examined the field of visualizations in computer graphics (VCG) using bibliometric methods, including performance and science mapping analysis. A dataset of documents from SCOPUS, 1986 to 2019, was analyzed and visualized using VOSviewer. The results showed an increasing trend of new documents in VCG. The five most cited publications were all related to data visualization software. The most prolific authors, examined by Citation per Paper (CPP) and Relative Citation Impact (RCI), contributed to research advances in computer graphics, information visualization, interactive data analysis, human computer interfaces, and visualization software development. A document source analysis identified the major scientific journals and conference proceedings in VCG research, and showed that researchers in VCG tend to publish extensively in conference proceedings, but that articles in scientific journals have a higher citation impact. A co-citation analysis of cited sources revealed seven clusters of thematically similar sources in computer science, genomics, neuroimaging, physics & chemistry, mathematics, education, and communication. Co-authorship analysis of countries pointed out collaboration networks in scientific research, where the USA, UK, Germany, France, and Italy collaborated most frequently. Collaborations were fostered by the same language group, or the geographical proximity. The co-occurrence of research terms showed six clusters of related concepts, thematically grouped around search queries, graphical processing, education, genetics, scientific numerical data, and medicine. The study contributed to a better understanding of the field and is expected to help researchers and educators identify research areas, developments, quality scientific literature, and appropriate journals for publishing their own findings related to VCG.