Abstract
The recent rise of nanotechnology and nanomaterial research is marked by the huge amount of publications indexed in electronic databases, which can be evaluated using bibliometric indicators in order to help researchers find hidden trends, gain novel insights and support new scientific developments. Although in-depth analyses require specialized software and advanced methodologies, some initial indicators can be developed using the analytical tools available in databases and provide useful information about a specific subject or research field. This paper aims to explore the Web of Science’s analytical tool for analyzing the scientific output regarding carbon-based nanomaterials. The results provide several key findings, including research trends and publications in carbon nanotubes, fullerene and graphene, as well as revealing the main global players and journals from 2001 to 2010. Despite the usefulness of the analytical tool, a number of limitations hindered the development of important indicators, such as those involving citation and collaboration.
Highlights
Over the last few decades, there has been increasing interest in nanotechnology and current advances have been quite striking and evident from publication and patent data due to worldwide efforts in research and investments from funding programs[1,2,3,4,5]
Comparisons among the total number of publications recovered by the three carbon-based nanomaterials search strategies are illustrated in Figure 4b, in which 46,906 publications (71.8%) referred to carbon nanotubes, 15,251 (23.4%) to fullerenes and 8,378 (1.,8%) to graphene
Scientific publication on carbon-based nanomaterials was analyzed using the indicators developed from the Web of Science analytical tool
Summary
Over the last few decades, there has been increasing interest in nanotechnology and current advances have been quite striking and evident from publication and patent data due to worldwide efforts in research and investments from funding programs[1,2,3,4,5]. An important aspect of nanotechnology is the nano-scale structures of materials, which involves typical dimensions between 0.1 and 100 nanometers (nm)[7], equivalent to 100,000 times smaller than the size of a human hair. At this scale, nanomaterial can exhibit particular behaviors which can be exploited in the development of new technologies and products for society[2,4,8,9,10,11,12]. Bibliometrics aims to measure registered scientific and technological communication using mathematical and statistical counting of articles, patent documents, citation, words and terms to find hidden trends and patterns, and to gain insights into a subject characterized by different levels of stratification[12]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
