Migration of keywords through diffusion phases – a diachronic analysis for the identification of emergences in the research field of optoelectronic devices

Edgar L. Schiebel (1) , Marianne Hörlesberger (1) , Ivana Roche (2) , Claire François (2) , Dominique Besagni (2)

1 ARCS - Austrian Research Centers GmbH
2 INIST - Institut de l'information scientifique et technique

This paper focuses on the identification and characterisation of emerging topics within a technological field based on scientific literature data, namely in the field “optoelectronic devices”. The motivation for this work roots in the framework of the PROMTECH project, whose principal objective was to produce a methodology allowing the identification of promising emerging technologies. In this project, the study of the intersection of Applied Sciences as well as Life (Biological & Medical) Sciences domains and Physics with bibliometric methods produced 45 candidate technological fields and the validation by expert panels led to a final selection of ten most promising ones. In order to detect the emerging topics, we combine two methodological approaches. The first one is a diachronic cluster analysis and the second one introduces a new modelling of field terminology evolution based on bibliometric indicators: the diffusion model. This methodology allows us to answer the following questions: Which technological aspects within our considered field can be detected? Which of them are already established and which of them are new? How are the topics linked to each other ?

Domaines: Recherche d'information [cs.IR]; Autre; Applications [stat.AP]

Edgar L. Schiebel, Marianne Hörlesberger, Ivana Roche, Claire François, Dominique Besagni. Migration of keywords through diffusion phases – a diachronic analysis for the identification of emergences in the research field of optoelectronic devices. ISSI 2009, BIREME/PAHO/WHO; Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Jul 2009, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. pp.194-205. ⟨hal-00550613⟩