Emerging trends and new developments in information science: a document co-citation analysis (2009–2016)

Abstract

Characterizing the structure of knowledge, the evolution of research topics, and the emergence of topics has always been an important part of information science (IS). Our previous scientometric review of IS provided a snapshot of this fast-growing field up to the end of 2008. This new study aims to identify emerging trends and new developments appearing in the subsequent 7574 articles published in 10 IS journals between 2009 and 2016, including 20,960 references. The results of a document co-citation analysis show great changes in the research topics in the IS domain. The positions of certain core topics found in the previous study, namely, information retrieval, webometrics, and citation behavior, have been replaced by scientometric indicators (H-index), citation analysis (citation performance and bibliometrics), scientific collaboration, and information behavior in the most recent period of 2009–2016. Dual-map overlays of journals show that the knowledge base of IS research has shifted considerably since 2010, with emerging topics including scientific evaluation indicators, altmetrics, science mapping and visualization, bibliometrics, citation analysis, and scientific collaboration.