DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-024-00738-0
تاريخ النشر: 2024-03-06
كيفية تصميم البحث الببليومتري: نظرة عامة واقتراح إطار عمل
© المؤلفون 2024
الملخص
أصبح التحليل البيبليومتري مؤخرًا تقنية شائعة ودقيقة تُستخدم لاستكشاف وتحليل الأدبيات في مجال الأعمال والإدارة. ركزت الدراسات السابقة بشكل أساسي على ‘كيفية إجراء التحليل البيبليومتري’، مقدمة نظرة عامة على المنهجية البيبليومترية جنبًا إلى جنب مع تقنيات مختلفة وإرشادات خطوة بخطوة يمكن الاعتماد عليها لإجراء التحليل البيبليومتري بدقة. ومع ذلك، فإن الجسم الحالي من الأدلة محدود في قدرته على تقديم المعرفة العملية التي يمكن أن تعزز تصميم وأداء البحث البيبليومتري. تدعم هذه الادعاءات حتى حقيقة أن الدراسات ذات الصلة تشير إلى عملها على أنه ‘تحليل بيبليومتري’ بدلاً من ‘بحث بيبليومتري’. وبناءً عليه، نسعى لتقديم إطار عمل أكثر وظيفية للباحثين الذين يرغبون في تصميم/إجراء بحث بيبليومتري في أي مجال من مجالات البحث، وخاصة الأعمال والإدارة. للقيام بذلك، اتبعنا طريقة مزدوجة. أولاً، قمنا بتحديد المراحل والخطوات الرئيسية للبحث البيبليومتري النموذجي. ثم، اقترحنا إطار عمل شامل لتحديد كيفية تصميم/إجراء البحث وتحت أي عناوين ستستخدم المراحل ذات الصلة (خطوة بخطوة) و/أو تُعرض. وبالتالي، من المتوقع أن تكون الورقة الحالية مصدرًا مفيدًا للحصول على رؤى حول التقنيات المتاحة وإرشاد الباحثين في تصميم/إجراء البحث البيبليومتري.
تصنيف JEL M1-M19
1 المقدمة
لكن مساهماتهم تميل إلى أن تكون أكثر نظرية من عملية. ومن ثم، لا يزال هناك نقص في المعرفة بشأن أفضل الممارسات للبحث البيبليومتري وكيفية إجرائه وتصميمه. وبناءً عليه، ألهمت الإرشادات التي قدمها ساور وسورينغ (2023) حول كيفية إجراء مراجعة منهجية للأدبيات هذه الورقة لاقتراح إطار عمل شامل للبحث البيبليومتري.
2 التحليل البيبليومتري كأداة لمراجعة الأدبيات
ثم، يقدم الصور الهيكلية (التصنيف) الناتجة عن التحليل من خلال عملية التصور (غوتيريز سالسيدو وآخرون 2018). يتيح التحليل البيبليومتري فهمًا منهجيًا وشاملاً للهيكل الفعلي في أي مجال، والفروق التطورية في هذا المجال، وتحديد تجمعات البحث التي تشكل هذا المجال، والتقاط الاتجاهات الناشئة، والحصول على منظور واسع حول المفاهيم التي تركز عليها هذا المجال وعلاقاتها (أريا وكوكورولو 2017؛ موكيرجي وآخرون 2022ب؛ كراوس وآخرون 2024).
تتيح هذه الطريقة للباحثين الحصول على نظرة عامة على المجال المعني، وتحديد الفجوات المعرفية، وتوليد أفكار بحثية جديدة، وتحديد كيفية مساهمتهم في ذلك المجال (دونثو وآخرون 2021). وبالتالي، فإن البحث البيبليومتري الذي يتم بشكل جيد يعد مهمًا لوضع أساس قوي لتقدم مجال ما بطرق ذات مغزى وجديدة (موكيرجي وآخرون 2022ب).
3 مراحل رئيسية في البحث البيبليومتري
3.1 المرحلة 1 – هدف البحث
مراحل | خطوات (إرشادات الممارسة) | ||||
(1) تحديد هدف البحث |
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(2) جمع البيانات عن الأدبيات ذات الصلة |
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(3) التحليل والتصور |
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(4) تفسير النتائج والنتائج |
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طبيعة التحليل (ميشرا وآخرون 2020). انظر الجدول 7 للأسئلة البحثية النموذجية المستخدمة في البحث البيبليومتري.
3.2 المرحلة 2-جمع البيانات
(ترانفيلد وآخرون 2003؛ بلوك وفيش 2020). بعبارة أخرى، يجب أن تكون العمليات في البحث البيبليومتري قابلة للتكرار من قبل باحثين آخرين (لينينلويك وآخرون 2020) ومن ثم، يجب أن يتم تنفيذ العملية بأكملها (خاصة فيما يتعلق بالبيانات) بشفافية (زوبك وكاتر، 2015)
3.2.1 اختيار قاعدة البيانات
- عدد المجلات المغطاة لمجال البحث،
- إمكانية الوصول إلى قاعدة البيانات (مثل، الوصول المجاني، العضويات المؤسسية، إلخ.)
- عوامل تأثير المجلات وإمكاناتها الرائدة في المجال
- القدرة على تنزيل البيانات بتنسيق متوافق مع برامج تحليل الببليومetrics.
- القدرة على تصفية البيانات بما يتوافق مع البرمجيات التي تتيح معالجة أسئلة البحث,
- عدد السجلات التي يمكن تصديرها من قاعدة البيانات.
3.2.2 تحديد مصطلحات البحث
معايير | الخيارات (المصقولة من خلال الاختيار) |
سنوات النشر | على سبيل المثال، 1980، ….، 2024 |
أنواع الوثائق | مقالة، وصول مبكر، مقال مراجعة، ورقة مؤتمر، فصل كتاب، مادة تحريرية، مراجعة كتاب، إلخ. |
مجالات البحث (الفئات) | الأعمال، الإدارة، الاقتصاد، تمويل الأعمال، العلوم البيئية، العلوم السياسية، الأخلاق، علم النفس التطبيقي، الاتصال، القضايا الاجتماعية، إلخ. |
اللغات | الإنجليزية، الصينية، الإسبانية، التركية، الألمانية، الإيطالية، إلخ. |
فهارس | فهرس اقتباسات العلوم الاجتماعية (SSCI)، فهرس اقتباسات العلوم الموسع (SCI-E)، فهرس اقتباسات المصادر الناشئة (ESCI)، فهرس اقتباسات الكتب – العلوم الاجتماعية والإنسانية (BKCISSH)، إلخ. |
الانتماءات | جامعة لندن، جامعة أكسفورد، جامعة هارفارد، الجامعة الحرة في برلين، جامعة ستانفورد، جامعة تورونتو، جامعة إسطنبول، إلخ. |
المجلات المنشورة (عناوين المنشورات) | مراجعة العلوم الإدارية، مجلة أبحاث الأعمال، مراجعة الإدارة ربع السنوية، مجلة الإدارة، مجلة الإدارة الاستراتيجية، مجلة الأكاديمية الإدارية، علوم المنظمة، مجلة التسويق، إلخ. |
الدول/المناطق | الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية، الصين، ألمانيا، إيطاليا، إنجلترا، كندا، فلسطين، فرنسا، تركيا، هولندا، إلخ. |
محتوى و/أو نطاق المقالات | بعد كل شيء، يتم قراءة العناوين والملخصات للمقالات في نتائج البحث بدقة. يتم استبعاد المقالات التي لا تتعلق بموضوع البحث المعني. |
3.2.3 التصفية
تجد قواعد البيانات أيضًا أوراقًا بحثية خارج نطاق الدراسة (ترانفيلد وآخرون، 2003)، وستؤثر هذه الأوراق على صحة التحليل بالإضافة إلى نتائج التحليل البيبليومتري (زوبك وكاتر، 2015).

3.2.4 تنزيل مجموعة البيانات
3.3 المرحلة 3-التحليل والتصور
المؤشرات | المحتوى |
مؤشرات النشر | إجمالي عدد الأوراق، عدد الأوراق حسب السنوات، المؤلفون-الدول-المؤسسات التي لديها أكبر عدد من الدراسات، المجلات التي تم نشر أكبر عدد من الأوراق فيها |
مؤشرات التأثير بناءً على الاستشهادات المستلمة (تحليل الاستشهادات) | إجمالي عدد الاستشهادات للأوراق (أو المؤلفين-المجلات-الدول-الجامعات) بما في ذلك أو استبعاد الاستشهادات الذاتية، متوسط عدد الاستشهادات لكل ورقة، معدل الاستشهاد الذاتي، الأوراق أو المؤلفون الأكثر استشهادًا (الأكثر تأثيرًا)، مؤشر h للمؤلفين، مؤشر g، مؤشر hg، إلخ. |
مؤشرات بناءً على تأثير المجلة | عامل التأثير، المجلات الأكثر استشهادًا، SJR، مؤشر h للمجلات، نسبة الاستشهادات النسبية، عامل التأثير المنظم، إلخ. |
3.3.1 إجراء تحليل الأداء
مخرجات العناصر في المجال المعني. يوضح الجدول 3 المؤشرات البيبليومترية المستخدمة لتقييم الأداء (أو المخرجات العلمية) للعناصر ذات الصلة.
3.3.2 إجراء رسم خرائط العلوم
الهدف | التقنية | غرض الاستخدام | وحدة التحليل | نتيجة التحليل | ||||||
كشف الهيكل الاجتماعي | تحليل المؤلف المشترك | لكشف/كشف التفاعلات الاجتماعية أو العلاقات بين المؤلفين وارتباطاتهم (المؤسسات و/أو الدول) ضمن مجال بحثي. |
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شبكة التعاون | |||||
كشف الهيكل المفاهيمي | تحليل الكلمات المشتركة | لتحديد/استكشاف (i) الكلمات الرئيسية الأكثر أهمية وحداثة (المواضيع الدورية أو الحالية) و(ii) العلاقات الموجودة أو المستقبلية بين الكلمات الرئيسية حيث تتجمع الكلمات الرئيسية في مجموعة تمثل موضوعًا مشتركًا – في مجال بحثي. |
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يمثل العلاقات بين المفاهيم، الكلمات الرئيسية، أو المواضيع في مجال بحثي. من خلال استخدام هذا التحليل، يمكن للمرء تحديد المفاهيم/المواضيع السائدة في مجال بحثي، فحص تطور المفاهيم/المواضيع بمرور الوقت، وكشف “العلاقات المعرفية” بين مجموعات البحث المختلفة. | الشبكة المفاهيمية |
الجدول 4 (مستمر) | ||||||||||||
الهدف | التقنية | غرض الاستخدام | وحدة التحليل | نتيجة التحليل | ||||||||
كشف الهيكل الفكري | تحليل الاقتباس المشترك | لتحليل العلاقات بين المنشورات (المقتبسة) لفهم تطور المعرفة الأساسية أو التاريخية/الاستعادية – حيث تتجمع المنشورات المقتبسة في مجموعة تمثل موضوعًا مشتركًا – في مجال بحثي. |
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يساعد على كشف الجذور التاريخية والأعمال الكلاسيكية (أو الأعمال الأساسية الرئيسية) لمجال بحثي. يمكن تحليل مجال البحث (أو الأدبيات التي سيتم فحصها) على مدى فترة طويلة من الزمن من خلال المنشورات المقتبسة. | شبكة الاقتباس | |||||||
الارتباط الببليوغرافي | لتحليل العلاقات بين المنشورات المقتبسة لفهم تطور المعرفة الدورية أو الحالية/الاتجاه – حيث تتجمع المنشورات المقتبسة في مجموعة تمثل موضوعًا مشتركًا – في مجال بحثي. |
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شبكة الاقتباس |
3.4 المرحلة 4-تفسير النتائج والاستنتاجات
تحت البحث. وبناءً عليه، نفترض أن هذا التحليل يُستخدم فقط بسبب انتشاره الواسع، متجاهلاً المنطق والنوايا وراء التحليل. وهذا يؤدي إلى بدء البحث دون أن يكون مبنياً على تحديد أو فضول أو ادعاء أو افتراض. وبالتالي، يظهر فجوة فيما يتعلق بتفسير النتائج/التصورات التي تم الحصول عليها من خلال التحليل. علاوة على ذلك، فإن تفسيرات النتائج لا تتحول إلى مخرجات مرضية فيما يتعلق بالمجال المعني عندما يفتقر الباحثون إلى المعرفة العميقة حول المجال الذي يفحصونه. وبالتالي، يتطلب الأمر خبرة في المجال (Öztürk 2021) ومنظوراً ميدانياً (Fisch و Block 2018) لتفسير النتائج. الباحثون الذين يتمتعون بخبرة في مجال البحث
تركيز البحث | طرق التفسير |
تقديم الهيكل العام للمجال | يحدث ذلك عند محاولة تقديم الهيكل المفاهيمي والاجتماعي والفكري لمجال بحث معين. بناءً على نظرة عامة على العلاقة بين العناصر الببليومترية (مثل الأوراق، مجموعات النشر، المؤلفين، المفاهيم، المجلات، الجامعات، المؤسسات، الدول، والاستشهادات)، يجب أن يتم النقاش في قسم النتائج والنقاش مع التركيز على الحالة الحالية، والاتجاهات، والفجوات ذات الصلة في المجال. هذه الطريقة مفضلة من قبل معظم الأبحاث الببليومترية. انظر Schröder وآخرون (2021)، Ammirato وآخرون (2023)، و Tiberius و Weyland (2023) لتقديم الهيكل العام للمجال. |
استخراج إطار تكاملي للمعرفة الحالية في المجال | استناداً إلى تجميع رسم خرائط العلوم، يمكن استخراج رؤية تكاملية للمعرفة في مجال البحث المعني. يتضمن هذا الإطار (العملي) عادةً المتغيرات المختلفة (مثل المستقلة، المعتمدة، السابقة، النتيجة، الوسطاء، المساعدين)، والعوامل السياقية، ووجهات النظر النظرية المطبقة. انظر Tiberius وآخرون (2021)، Fernandes و Ferreira (2022)، Kimpimäki وآخرون (2022)، و Horvatinovic وآخرون (2023) لاستخراج الأطر التكاملية. |
كشف النمو التطوري للمجال | يتم استخدامه عند محاولة كشف تطور مجال البحث بمرور الوقت. في الأبحاث التي تركز على ذلك، يجب تقسيم البيانات حول الأدبيات ذات الصلة إلى عدة فترات تعتبر مهمة لديناميات المجال، ويجب اعتبار هيكل المجال بشكل منفصل لكل فترة. أثناء تفسير النتائج، يجب محاولة شرح لماذا وكيف تطور هيكل مجال البحث بمرور الوقت. كما يجب تحديد العناصر/المواضيع الجديدة أو التي في اتجاه تنازلي في فترة معينة (مثل، Vogel 2012). انظر Halder وآخرون (2021) كمثال لتقديم النمو التطوري لمجال. |
البحث عن إجابات لمجموعة من الأسئلة البحثية المحدودة | قد تركز بعض الأبحاث الببليومترية على أسئلة بحثية محددة جداً وفجوات تتعلق بالأدبيات ذات الصلة. يجب أن تتضمن مثل هذه الدراسات عادةً “قسم طرق” يتم فيه استخدام تقنيات تحليل ببليومترية مختلفة لإظهار أو إثبات ادعاءات المؤلفين ومشاركة نتائجهم فيما يتعلق بهذه الادعاءات، و”قسم النتائج” حيث يتم مناقشة العلاقة بين الادعاءات والأدبيات الموجودة بشكل شامل. لتوضيح ذلك، أجرى Öztürk (2021) بحثاً ببليومترياً يركز على تحديد “تشابك أدبيات نظرية الاعتماد على الموارد (RDT) مع تخصص الإدارة الاستراتيجية”. أجرى البحث تحليل الاقتباسات المشتركة والكلمات المشتركة لكشف الاستنتاج بأن أدبيات RDT تركز بشكل كبير على الإجراءات الاستراتيجية بدلاً من المفاهيم والافتراضات الرئيسية للنظرية. في قسم النتائج والنقاش في الدراسة، تم مناقشة النتائج من التحليلات بناءً على الأدلة التي تدعم الفجوات التي حددها البحث. |
تحديد طرق محتملة للبحث المستقبلي | استناداً إلى التحليلات، وخاصة المعرفة المتكاملة داخل التجمعات المستخرجة، يمكن تحديد طرق البحث المستقبلية. من المهم بوضوح استخراج مثل هذه الاتجاهات التي تقدم تقدماً للمجال وليس مجرد تقديم توصيات سطحية. مع هذه المساهمة، يحصل مؤلفو ورقة البحث الببليومتري على فرصة لتوجيه التطور المستقبلي لمجال. انظر Vallaster وآخرون (2019)، Fernandes و Ferreira (2022)، و Horvatinovic وآخرون (2023) كأمثلة على الطرق المحددة للبحث المستقبلي. |
البحث عن إما سوء تفسير أو نقص في تفسير البيانات. في الواقع، تكمن قيمة فهم المعنى بشكل رئيسي في سد الفجوة بين البيانات الكمية والتفسير النوعي. وبناءً عليه، مع التأكيد على الحاجة إلى التخطيط الدقيق، والتنفيذ الاستراتيجي، والتفسير الواعي في دمج فهم المعنى في البحث البيبليومتري، يقدم ليم وكومار (2023) دليلًا خطوة بخطوة (المسح، والإحساس، والتأكيد) يمكّن الباحثين من عدم تفسير النتائج البيبليومترية فحسب، بل أيضًا من فهمها بشكل معقول (انظر الجدول 6).
4 تداعيات للأكاديميين: إطار شامل للبحث الببليومتري
خطوات | ماذا يتضمن؟ | ماذا يتطلب؟ | ماذا يوفر؟ | |||||||||
مسح |
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الإحساس |
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إثبات | – إنشاء موثوقية النتائج من خلال إظهار المصداقية والاعتمادية والقابلية للتأكيد والقابلية للنقل للتفسيرات. | – تطبيق إجراءات التحليل بدقة، واستخدام أساليب مثلثية متعددة، وتوثيق شامل، ودليل على صلة النتائج. | – تعزيز المصداقية والموثوقية المدركة للدراسة، مما يزيد من قبولها بين الأكاديميين والمهنيين في مجال الأعمال. |
العناوين | مراحل | خطوات | ||||||||||||||||
مقدمة | (1) هدف البحث |
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طريقة | (2) جمع البيانات |
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(3) التحليل والتصور | أ. تحليل الأداء (نظرة عامة على المجال) | |||||||||||||||||
تصنيف العناصر البيبليومترية (المؤلف، المجلة، المفهوم، الاقتباس، إلخ) وقياس المخرجات العلمية |
العناوين | مراحل | خطوات | ||||||
الخاتمة و/أو المناقشة | (4) تفسير النتائج والنتائج |
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5 الخاتمة
أكثر مفاهيمية من عملية. وبالتالي، لا يزال القليل معروفًا عن أفضل الطرق لأداء البحث البيبليومتري وما هي أفضل ممارساته. لسد هذه الفجوة، وصفت الورقة أولاً المراحل والخطوات المنهجية حول كيفية تصميم الباحثين للبحث البيبليومتري. بهذه الطريقة، قدمت المراحل الأربعة الرئيسية (تحديد هدف البحث، جمع البيانات، التحليل والتصور، وتفسير النتائج والاستنتاجات) لإظهار المسارات النموذجية التي يجب اتباعها وتفاصيل الخطوات التي سيتبعها الباحث في كل مرحلة. ثم، والأهم من ذلك، قدمت الورقة إطار عمل شامل لهيكل المقالة النموذجي للبحث البيبليومتري. من خلال القيام بذلك، توفر إرشادات لكل قرار، بما في ذلك المهام التي تساعد في اتخاذ خيارات سليمة لإكمال عملية البحث وتقديم مساهمات كبيرة. من خلال اتباع هذه الإرشادات، قد تصبح العديد من أوراق المراجعة أكثر قوة ودقة، مما يعزز مساهمتها في الجسم الحالي من المعرفة. علاوة على ذلك، من خلال السعي إلى جهد زمالة وعملي، تقدم الورقة أيضًا بعض النصائح العملية وأمثلة على أفضل الممارسات حول القضايا التي يجدها العلماء الناشئون غالبًا صعبة المعالجة في المخطوطة، مما يسبب الإحباط للمحررين والمراجعين والقراء والمؤلفين على حد سواء. وبناءً عليه، توضح الورقة بوضوح أن القرارات المتعلقة بكل مرحلة من مراحل عملية البحث البيبليومتري حاسمة لأنها تؤثر على النتائج التي تم الحصول عليها والاستنتاجات المستخلصة من التحليل. من خلال هذا الجهد، تشجع هذه الورقة العلماء على التغلب على خوفهم من التعامل مع كميات كبيرة من البيانات العلمية وفحص الاستعراضات لأي مجال بحث.
توفر البيانات يؤكد المؤلفون أنه لا توجد مجموعات بيانات متاحة لهذا العمل.
الإعلانات
الوصول المفتوح هذه المقالة مرخصة بموجب رخصة المشاع الإبداعي للاستخدام والمشاركة والتكيف والتوزيع وإعادة الإنتاج في أي وسيلة أو صيغة، طالما أنك تعطي الائتمان المناسب للمؤلفين الأصليين والمصدر، وتوفر رابطًا لرخصة المشاع الإبداعي، وتوضح ما إذا كانت هناك تغييرات قد تم إجراؤها. الصور أو المواد الأخرى من طرف ثالث في هذه المقالة مشمولة في رخصة المشاع الإبداعي للمقالة، ما لم يُشار إلى خلاف ذلك في سطر ائتمان للمادة. إذا لم تكن المادة مشمولة في رخصة المشاع الإبداعي للمقالة وكان استخدامك المقصود غير مسموح به بموجب اللوائح القانونية أو يتجاوز الاستخدام المسموح به، فستحتاج إلى الحصول على إذن مباشرة من صاحب حقوق الطبع والنشر. لعرض نسخة من هذه الرخصة، قم بزيارةhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
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- Dominik K. Kanbach
Dominik.Kanbach@hhl.de
Oğuzhan Öztürk
oguzhan.ozturk@bakircay.edu.tr
Rıdvan Kocaman
ridvankocaman@anadolu.edu.tr
Department of International Trade and Business, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, İzmir Bakırçay University, 35665 İzmir, Turkey
Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Anadolu University, 26470 Eskişehir, Turkey
HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, Leipzig, Germany To provide an applicable research design for bibliometric research, both “conceptual” papers describing the nature of bibliometric research and “empirical” papers revealing the structure of a research field using bibliometric analysis were considered. In identifying relevant papers, we considered how comprehensive they are. Hence, papers (i) that are “inaccurately” labeled as bibliometric research, (ii) that only provide an overview of the field, or (iii) that only “technically” carry out citation analysis and do not assess the relevant research field were excluded. Traditional literature reviews (e.g., narrative, meta-analysis, and systematic review) have biases regarding whether they cover the entire research field (Tranfield et al. 2003). When examining any research field, bibliometric research has the potential to initiate a systematic, transparent, and repeatable review process in defining the relevant field and determining its scope, thereby raising the quality of reviews. Bibliometric research offers researchers the opportunity to map the relevant research field without subjective bias (Zupic and Cater, 2015). Reviewing the studies using both the Resource-Based View and Resource Dependence Theory, Öztürk and Yıldırım (2023) found 106 studies in WoS and 103 studies in Scopus as a result of the initial search with the same search terms. They suggested that all the studies scanned in Scopus, except 2, were also obtained through the search in the WoS database.
Bibliometric analysis can sometimes be employed just to compile a bibliography of a journal or author. Therefore, a journal-based or author-based search will need to be performed to conduct analysis for such purposes. Also, there are many other criteria regarding where/how to search with the terms in databases (e.g., topic, author, title, source, publication year, publication name, funding agency, address, document type, editor, etc.). A bibliometric search might provide very different responses to the same research questions and arrive at distinct results depending on which papers are included in the analysis (i.e., how the scope of the study is framed). For example, research can be conducted with a highly inappropriate sample, selecting only certain publications, years, or even search terms to limit the scope of the research. One may draw inaccurate inferences about gaps in the literature or, more seriously, provide false evidence for a given relationship or effect (Snyder 2019). Researchers having prior knowledge of a topic are required not to attempt and shoehorn bibliometric research/analysis into their existing preconceptions. Instead, they should utilize their expertise and knowledge of the relevant topic to analyze and interpret the findings and results. An article has typically the following headings: introduction, literature review, methodology including sampling, data, analysis, etc., findings, implications, limitations, and conclusion (Coşkun et al. 2019). The article structure in bibliometric research differs partially due to the unique nature of bibliometric analysis: (i) The heading of ‘literature review’ is not included in bibliometric research since bibliometric analysis is already a tool for analyzing the relevant literature. (ii) Bibliometric research does not include the heading of ‘sample and data’ as in the method section of empirical papers because the structure of any research field is examined in this research (i.e., the literature examined is also the sample of the research). Therefore, a bibliometric research paper typically includes the headings of introduction, method (data, analysis, results/findings), and conclusion/ discussion.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-024-00738-0
Publication Date: 2024-03-06
How to design bibliometric research: an overview and a framework proposal
© The Author(s) 2024
Abstract
Bibliometric analysis has recently become a popular and rigorous technique used for exploring and analyzing the literature in business and management. Prior studies principally focused on ‘how to do bibliometric analysis’, presenting an overview of the bibliometric methodology along with various techniques and step-by-step guidelines that can be relied on to rigorously conduct bibliometric analysis. However, the current body of evidence is limited in its ability to provide practical knowledge that can enhance the design and performance of bibliometric research. This claim is supported even by the fact that relevant studies refer to their work as ‘bibliometric analysis’ rather than ‘bibliometric research’. Accordingly, we endeavor to offer a more functional framework for researchers who wish to design/conduct bibliometric research on any field of research, especially business and management. To do this, we followed a twofold way. We first outlined the main stages and steps of typical bibliometric research. Then, we proposed a comprehensive framework for specifying how to design/conduct the research and under what headings the relevant stages (step-by-step) will be used and/or presented. Thus, the current paper is expected to be a useful source to gain insights into the available techniques and guide researchers in designing/conducting bibliometric research.
JEL Classification M1-M19
1 Introduction
but their contributions tend to be more conceptual than practical. Hence, there is still a lack of knowledge regarding the best practices of bibliometric research and how to conduct and design it. Accordingly, the guideline offered by Sauer and Seuring (2023) for guiding how to conduct a systematic literature review inspired this paper to propose a comprehensive framework for bibliometric research.
2 Bibliometric analysis as a literature review tool
and words) into different groups. Then, it presents the visuals of the structure (classification) resulting from the analysis through the visualization process (GutiérrezSalcedo et al. 2018). Bibliometric analysis enables having a systematic and comprehensive understanding of the de facto structure in any field, evolutionary nuances of the field, identifying the research clusters that form the field, capturing emerging trends, and getting a broad perspective on the concepts that are the focus of the field and their relationships (Aria and Cuccurullo 2017; Mukherjee et al. 2022b; Kraus et al. 2024).
countries). In this way, it enables scholars to gain an overview of the relevant field, identify knowledge gaps, generate novel research ideas, and determine how they contribute to that field (Donthu et al. 2021). Thus, bibliometric research that is well done is significant for establishing robust groundwork for the advancement of a field in meaningful and novel ways (Mukherjee et al. 2022b).
3 Main stages in bibliometric research
3.1 Stage 1-Aim of the research
Stages | Steps (Practice Guidelines) | ||||
(1) Defining the aim of the research |
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(2) Collecting data on the relevant literature |
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(3) Analysis and visualization |
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(4) Interpreting the findings and results |
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nature of the analysis (Mishra et al. 2020). See Table 7 for typical research questions used in bibliometric research.
3.2 Stage 2-Data collection
(Tranfield et al. 2003; Block and Fisch 2020). In other words, the processes in bibliometric research should be repeatable by other researchers (Linnenluecke et al. 2020) and hence, the whole process (especially regarding data) needs to be performed transparently (Zupic and Cater, 2015)
3.2.1 Selecting the database
- Number of journals covered for the research field,
- Accessibility to the database (e.g., free access, institutional memberships, etc.),
- Journal impact factors and their field-leading potential,
- The ability to download data in a format compatible with bibliometric analysis software,
- The ability to filter data in compliance with the software that enables to address research questions,
- Number of records that can be exported from the database.
3.2.2 Identifying search terms
Criteria | Options (refined by selecting) |
Publication years | e.g., 1980, …., 2024 |
Document types | Article, Early Access, Review Article, Proceeding Paper, Book Chapter, Editorial Material, Book Review, etc. |
Research fields (Categories) | Business, Management, Economics, Business Finance, Environmental Sciences, Political Science, Ethics, Psychology Applied, Communication, Social Issues, etc. |
Languages | English, Chinese, Spanish, Turkish, German, Italian, etc. |
Indexes | Social Science Citation Index (SSCI), Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-E), Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Book Citation Index-Social Sciences & Humanities (BKCISSH), etc. |
Affiliations | University of London, University of Oxford, Harvard University, Free University of Berlin, Stanford University, University of Toronto, Istanbul University, etc. |
Published Journals (Publication Titles) | Review of Managerial Sciences, Journal of Business Research, Management Review Quarterly, Journal of Management, Strategic Management Journal, Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, Journal of Marketing, etc. |
Countries/regions | USA, China, Germany, Italy, England, Canada, Palestine, France, Türkiye, Netherlands, etc. |
Content and/or Scope of Articles | After all, the titles and abstracts of the articles in the search results are meticulously read. Articles that are not related to the relevant research topic are excluded. |
3.2.3 Filtering
databases also find papers that are outside the scope of the scope (Tranfield et al. 2003), and these papers will affect the validity of the analysis as well as the results of the bibliometric analysis (Zupic and Cater, 2015)

3.2.4 Downloading the dataset
3.3 Stage 3-Analysis and visualization
Indicators | Content |
Publication indicators | Total number of papers, number of papers by years, authors-countries-institutions with the most studies, journals where the most papers were published |
Impact indicators based on received citations (Citation analysis) | Total number of citations of papers (or authors-jour-nals-countries-universities) including or excluding self-citations, average number of citations per paper, self-citation rate, most cited (most influential) papers or authors, authors’ h-index, g-index, hg-index, etc. |
Indicators based on the impact of the journal | Impact Factor, most cited journals, SJR, h-index of journals, relative citations ratio, normalized impact factor, etc. |
3.3.1 Performance analysis procedure
outputs of the items are in the relevant field. Table 3 shows the bibliometric indicators employed to assess the performance (or scientific output) of relevant items.
3.3.2 Science mapping procedure
Goal | Technique | Purpose of usage | Unit of analysis | Output of analysis | ||||||
Revealing social structure | Co-author analysis | To reveal/uncover the social interactions or relationships among authors and their affiliations (institutions and/or countries) within a research field. |
|
|
Collaboration Network | |||||
Revealing conceptual ctructure | Co-word analysis | To identify/explore (i) the most important and cutting-edge keywords (periodical or present topics) and (ii) the existing or future relationships among the keywordswherein keywords converging into a cluster represent a common theme- in a research field. |
|
It represents relationships between concepts, keywords, or topics in a research field. Employing this analysis, one can identify dominant concepts/topics in a research field, examine the evolution of concepts/topics over time, and uncover the “cognitive relationships” between different research groups. | Conceptual Network |
Table 4 (continued) | ||||||||||||
Goal | Technique | Purpose of usage | Unit of analysis | Output of analysis | ||||||||
Revealing intellectual structure | Co-citation analysis | To analyze the relationships among (co)cited publications to understand the development of the foundational or historical/retrospective knowledge -wherein cited publications converging into a cluster represent a common theme- in a research field. |
|
It helps to reveal the historical roots and classical (or main fundamental works) of a research field. The research field (or the literature to be examined) can be analyzed over a long period of time through cited publications. | Citation Network | |||||||
Bibliographic coupling | To analyze the relationships among citing publications to understand the development of periodical or present/trend knowledge -wherein citing publications converging into a cluster represent a common theme- in a research field. |
|
|
Citation Network |
3.4 Stage 4-Interpreting the findings and results
under research. Accordingly, we imply that this analysis is employed merely due to its widespread usage, disregarding the logic and intent behind the analysis. This leads research to begin without being based on an identification, curiosity, claim, or assumption. Thus, a gap emerges regarding the interpretation of the findings/visualization obtained through the analysis. Moreover, interpretations of the findings do not turn into a satisfactory output regarding the relevant field when the researchers lack in-depth knowledge about the field they examine. Thus, it requires expertise in the field (Öztürk 2021) and a field perspective (Fisch and Block 2018) to interpret the findings and results. Researchers who are well-versed in research field
Research focus | Interpretation ways |
Presenting the field’s overall structure | It happens when attempting to present the conceptual, social, and intellectual structure of a given research field. Based on an overview of the relationship between bibliometric items (e.g., papers, publication groups, authors, concepts, journals, universities, institutions, countries, and citations), the discussion in the results and discussion section should be performed with a focus on the current state, trends, and related gaps in the field. This way is favored by most of the bibliometric research. See Schröder et al. (2021), Ammirato et al. (2023), and Tiberius and Weyland (2023) for presenting the field’s overall structure. |
Deriving an integrative framework of the field’s current knowledge | Based on the clustering of science mapping an integrative view on the knowledge in the respective research field can be derived. Such a (process) framework typically includes the different variables (e.g. independent, dependent, antecedent, outcome, moderators, mediators), contextual factors, and applied theoretical perspectives. See Tiberius et al. (2021), Fernandes and Ferreira (2022), Kimpimäki et al. (2022), and Horvatinovic et al. (2023) for the derivation of integrative frameworks. |
Revealing the field’s evolutionary growth | It is employed when attempting to reveal the evolution of a research field over time. In research with such a focus, data on the relevant literature should be divided into several periods that are significant for the dynamics of the field, and the structure of the field should separately be considered for each period. While interpreting the findings, one should attempt to explain why and how the structure of the research field has evolved over time. Also, it should be identified which elements/topics are new or which are in a downward trend in a certain period (e.g., Vogel 2012). See Halder et al. (2021) as an example for presenting the evolutionary growth of a field. |
Seeking answers to a set of bounded research questions | Some bibliometric research may have focused on very specific research questions and gaps regarding the relevant literature. Such studies should typically include a “methods section” in which different bibliometric analysis techniques are used to demonstrate or prove the authors’ assertations and their results are shared in relation to these assertations, and a “results section” where the relationship of the assertations to the existing literature is comprehensively discussed. To illustrate, Öztürk (2021) conducted bibliometric research with the focus of identifying “the intertwining of the Resource Dependency Theory (RDT) literature with the strategic management discipline”. The research performed the co-citation and co-word to reveal the conclusion that the RDT literature focuses heavily on strategic actions rather than the main concepts and assumptions of the theory. In the results and discussion section of the study, the findings from analyses were discussed based on the evidence supporting the gaps the research identified. |
Outlining potential avenues for future research | Based on the analyses, especially the integrated knowledge within the derived clusters, future research avenues can be outlined. It is relevant to clearly derive such directions which provide advancement to the field and not just make superficial recommendations. With this contribution, the authors of a bibliometric research paper have the opportunity to guide the future development of a field. See Vallaster et al. (2019), Fernandes and Ferreira (2022), and Horvatinovic et al. (2023) as examples of outlined avenues for future research. |
research for either misinterpreting or underinterpreting the data. In fact, the value of sensemaking mainly lies in bridging the gap between quantitative data and qualitative interpretation. Accordingly, emphasizing the need for careful planning, strategic implementation, and mindful interpretation in the integration of sensemaking into bibliometric research, Lim and Kumar (2023) offer a step-by-step guide (scanning, sensing, and substantiating) that enables researchers to not only interpret but also make plausible sense of their bibliometric results (see Table 6).
4 Implications for academics: a comprehensive framework for bibliometric research
Steps | What includes? | What requires? | What provides? | |||||||||
Scanning |
|
|
|
|||||||||
Sensing |
|
|
|
|||||||||
Substantiating | – Establishing the results’ trustworthiness by demonstrating credibility, dependability, confirmability, and transferability of the interpretations. | – Application of analysis procedures with rigor, utilization of multiple triangulation approaches, thorough documentation, and evidence of the relevance of results. | – Strengthening the study’s perceived validity and reliability, which increases its acceptability among academics and business professionals. |
Headings | Stages | Steps | ||||||||||||||||
Introduction | (1) Research aim |
|
||||||||||||||||
Method | (2) Data collection |
|
||||||||||||||||
(3) Analysis and visualization | A. Performance analysis (overview of the field) | |||||||||||||||||
Classification of bibliometric items (author, journal, concept, citation, etc.) and measurement of scientific outputs |
Headings | Stages | Steps | ||||||
Conclusion and/or Discussion | (4) Interpreting the findings and results |
|
5 Conclusion
more conceptual than practical. Thus, little is still known about the best ways to perform bibliometric research and what its best practices are. To fill this gap, the paper first described methodological stages and steps for how researchers can design bibliometric research. In this way, it presented the four main stages (definition of the research aim, data collection, analysis and visualization, and interpretation of findings and results) to demonstrate the typical pathways to be followed and details what steps a researcher would pursue at each stage. Then, more importantly, the paper offered a comprehensive framework of typical article structure for bibliometric research. By doing this, it provides guidelines for every decision, including tasks that help with sound choices to complete the research process and make significant contributions. By following these guidelines, many review papers may become more robust and rigorous, which enhances their contribution to the current body of knowledge. Moreover, by the pursuit of a collegial and pragmatic endeavor, the paper also offers a few practical tips and best-practice examples on issues that emerging scholars often find difficult to address in a manuscript, which frustrates editors, reviewers, readers, and authors alike. Accordingly, the paper clearly states that the decisions regarding every stage of the bibliometric research process are crucial since they influence the obtained results and the interferences drawn from the analysis. Through this endeavor, this paper encourages scholars to overcome their fear of dealing with large volumes of scientific data and to examine the retrospectives of any research field.
Data availability The authors confirm that there are no available datasets for this work.
Declarations
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/.
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- Dominik K. Kanbach
Dominik.Kanbach@hhl.de
Oğuzhan Öztürk
oguzhan.ozturk@bakircay.edu.tr
Rıdvan Kocaman
ridvankocaman@anadolu.edu.tr
Department of International Trade and Business, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, İzmir Bakırçay University, 35665 İzmir, Turkey
Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Anadolu University, 26470 Eskişehir, Turkey
HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, Leipzig, Germany To provide an applicable research design for bibliometric research, both “conceptual” papers describing the nature of bibliometric research and “empirical” papers revealing the structure of a research field using bibliometric analysis were considered. In identifying relevant papers, we considered how comprehensive they are. Hence, papers (i) that are “inaccurately” labeled as bibliometric research, (ii) that only provide an overview of the field, or (iii) that only “technically” carry out citation analysis and do not assess the relevant research field were excluded. Traditional literature reviews (e.g., narrative, meta-analysis, and systematic review) have biases regarding whether they cover the entire research field (Tranfield et al. 2003). When examining any research field, bibliometric research has the potential to initiate a systematic, transparent, and repeatable review process in defining the relevant field and determining its scope, thereby raising the quality of reviews. Bibliometric research offers researchers the opportunity to map the relevant research field without subjective bias (Zupic and Cater, 2015). Reviewing the studies using both the Resource-Based View and Resource Dependence Theory, Öztürk and Yıldırım (2023) found 106 studies in WoS and 103 studies in Scopus as a result of the initial search with the same search terms. They suggested that all the studies scanned in Scopus, except 2, were also obtained through the search in the WoS database.
Bibliometric analysis can sometimes be employed just to compile a bibliography of a journal or author. Therefore, a journal-based or author-based search will need to be performed to conduct analysis for such purposes. Also, there are many other criteria regarding where/how to search with the terms in databases (e.g., topic, author, title, source, publication year, publication name, funding agency, address, document type, editor, etc.). A bibliometric search might provide very different responses to the same research questions and arrive at distinct results depending on which papers are included in the analysis (i.e., how the scope of the study is framed). For example, research can be conducted with a highly inappropriate sample, selecting only certain publications, years, or even search terms to limit the scope of the research. One may draw inaccurate inferences about gaps in the literature or, more seriously, provide false evidence for a given relationship or effect (Snyder 2019). Researchers having prior knowledge of a topic are required not to attempt and shoehorn bibliometric research/analysis into their existing preconceptions. Instead, they should utilize their expertise and knowledge of the relevant topic to analyze and interpret the findings and results. An article has typically the following headings: introduction, literature review, methodology including sampling, data, analysis, etc., findings, implications, limitations, and conclusion (Coşkun et al. 2019). The article structure in bibliometric research differs partially due to the unique nature of bibliometric analysis: (i) The heading of ‘literature review’ is not included in bibliometric research since bibliometric analysis is already a tool for analyzing the relevant literature. (ii) Bibliometric research does not include the heading of ‘sample and data’ as in the method section of empirical papers because the structure of any research field is examined in this research (i.e., the literature examined is also the sample of the research). Therefore, a bibliometric research paper typically includes the headings of introduction, method (data, analysis, results/findings), and conclusion/ discussion.