JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; 2010; 61(12):2405 - 2416

A Comparison of Two Techniques for Bibliometric Mapping: Multidimensional Scaling and VOS

Authors: van Eck NJ, Waltman L, Dekker R, van den Berg J
Affiliations: Leiden Univ, Erasmus Univ, Delft Univ Technol

Abstract:
VOS is a new mapping technique that can serve as an alternative to the well-known technique of multidimensional scaling (MDS). We present an extensive comparison between the use of MDS and the use of VOS for constructing bibliometric maps. In our theoretical analysis, we show the mathematical relation between the two techniques. In our empirical analysis, we use the techniques for constructing maps of authors, journals, and keywords. Two commonly used approaches to bibliometric mapping, both based on MDS, turn out to produce maps that suffer from artifacts. Maps constructed using VOS turn out not to have this problem. We conclude that in general maps constructed using VOS provide a more satisfactory representation of a dataset than maps constructed using well-known MDS approaches.

Publication type:
Article in Journal

  
Authors (2)
  
Dr. N.J. (Nees Jan) van Eck
Centre for Science and Technology Studies
Researcher. MSc in Economics & Informatics from Erasmus University Rotterdam (2005). Currently working on a PhD thesis on science mapping at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Working at CWTS from November 2008. Involved in various science mapping projects, and working on the development of science ...
MSc L. (Ludo) Waltman
Researcher. MSc in Economics & Informatics from Erasmus University Rotterdam (2005). Currently working on a PhD thesis in economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Working at CWTS from June 2009. Involved in various science mapping projects. Main research interests are science mapping and ...