Origin and Impact: A Study of the Intellectual Transfer of Professor Henk F. Moed’s Works by Using Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RPYS)

Abstract

Scientists play the major role in the science endeavour as creators and practitioners of scientific theories and methods. Thus, the study of scientists’ intellectual communication via journal is able to accurately reveal the depth and breadth of scientists’ knowledge, as well as the historical roots, scientific evidence and the evolutionary path of their research. Since 1963, when the Science Citation Index (SCI) was created by Eugene Garfield, citation analysis as a research method has played an increasingly important role in measuring scientific progress, detecting characteristics of disciplinary structure, and assessing the impact of research. Meanwhile, a new and interesting research field in the history of science, called the quantitative study of the history of science, was created. In 2014, Marx, Bornmann, Barth, and Leydesdorff introduced a citation-based method, Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RPYS), which can identify the most frequently cited publications in a field, about a topic, or by a researcher. RPYS is especially suitable for studying the historical roots of fields, topics, or researchers. In this article, we trace the intellectual transfer paths of Prof. Henk F. Moed’s works by using RPYS, which helps us obtain an in-depth understanding of his academic origins and the related impact on bibliometrics and informetrics.