Geography of scientific knowledge about the Arctic: bibliometric analysis
Abstract
A bibliometric analysis of studies related to the Arctic was carried out, based on 1980–2018 publications extracted from the Web of Science Core Collection database. The focus was on the dynamics of the scope of investigations conducted in the world and by country/group of countries, the thematic profiles of research, and indicators of international scientific cooperation. We identified 13 most significant research countries and analyzed for them in more details: the growth rates of research activity and the positions in the area under consideration, the structure and dynamics of their co-authorship network, as well as their contribution to the pool of highly cited publications. The bibliometric indicators were applied to characterize the stages of Arctic research development in Russia (USSR) and their geographical structure, and identify the most efficient scientific organizations. In the recent decade the world research on the Arctic showed a rapid quantitative growth, both by the Arctic countries, and non-Arctic ones, first of all China. Relying on the traditionally strong positions of the Russian academic school and the growing activity of universities, Russia has significantly exceeded the global average growth rate and now ranks third in the world in terms of the scope of Arctic research. "Geosciences multidisciplinary" are more frequently represented in the thematic profile of world studies than other WoS subject categories, followed by "Environmental sciences", "Meteorology and atmospheric sciences". The general growth of scientific cooperation has been noted, as well as the formation of a cohesive core of countries (out of 13 selected), which produce the largest part of highly cited publications. Other countries tend towards cooperation with the core group, which includes the preferred partners of Russia (Germany, Norway and the United States). Nevertheless, Russia conducts a significant part of the research independently. Analysis of the geographic structure of Russian studies made it possible to identify their long-term shift from the center to the eastern regions, where most of the country’s Arctic zone is located.
About the Author
A. I. Terekhov
Central Economics and Mathematics Institute of the RAS
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Laboratory of Applied Econometrics, Leading Scientific Researcher, PhD in Physics and Mathematics
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Review
For citations:
Terekhov A.I. Geography of scientific knowledge about the Arctic: bibliometric analysis. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 5, Geografiya. 2021;(3):86-96. (In Russ.)
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