Weinberg - Identifying high-impact and transformative sciences
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This document discusses a study to identify and measure transformative science. The researchers developed metrics to analyze over 11 million MEDLINE articles from 1983-2012 to identify transformative work. They defined several metrics to measure qualities of transformative science like being radical in generating new paradigms, risky, multidisciplinary, and having wide impact. Their analysis found the metrics could identify transformative work distinct from just high impact work. Fields that were younger tended to be more transformative while older fields had higher overall impact. The researchers are continuing to validate the metrics.
![Transformative Work
The vast majority of scientific understanding
advances incrementally…. Less frequently, scientific
understanding advances dramatically, through the
application of radically different approaches or
interpretations that result in the creation of new
paradigms or new scientific fields. This progress is
revolutionary, for it transforms science by
overthrowing entrenched paradigms and
generating new ones. (National Science Board
[2007])
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Weinberg - Identifying high-impact and transformative sciences
- 1. Identifying High-Impact and Transformative Science (HITS) Jerry Marschke and Huifeng Yu (SUNY Albany); Katy Bӧrner and Robert Preston Light (Indiana U); Bruce Weinberg and Joseph Staudt and (Ohio State U)
- 2. Transformative Work The vast majority of scientific understanding advances incrementally…. Less frequently, scientific understanding advances dramatically, through the application of radically different approaches or interpretations that result in the creation of new paradigms or new scientific fields. This progress is revolutionary, for it transforms science by overthrowing entrenched paradigms and generating new ones. (National Science Board [2007]) 2
- 4. Importance • Interest in supporting transformative versus incremental work at NSF, NIH, Universities,… • Identify factors that generate transformation – Networks, demographics, funding,… • Predict what work will be transformative? • Apply methods to broader / corpa with data? • Ultimately measure value for health 4
- 5. Transformative Work • We develop metrics to identify transformative work: – We apply • Text analysis • Rich characterization of citation patterns from WOS – To 11M+ articles in MEDLINE from 1983-2012 – At the level of fields (applicable to articles) • Validate and develop visualizations to communicate to subject matter experts 5
- 6. Metrics 1. Radical - Generates New Paradigms and Scientific Fields Introduction and use of heavily-used new concepts 2. Radical - Destructive Age of backward citations 3. Risky Variance of Forward Citations 4. Multidisciplinary Breadth of articles (citations) and concepts used 5. Wide Impact Breadth of forward citations and concepts introduced 6. Growing Impact Time to forward citations 7. High Impact Forward citation counts
- 7. Aspects of Transformativeness Related to Impact and Transformativeness
- 8. Citations Related to Impact and Transformativeness
- 9. Patterns • Radical Generative and Destructive weakly related – New ideas can be born without obsolescence • Multi-disciplinarity and wide impact related • Multi-disciplinarity weakly related to impact • Transformative work has shorter forward citation ages – Impactful over time, but even more so soon
- 11. Findings • Cohesive indicators for transformative work; correlated (.4) with, but distinct, from impact – Extreme high impact related to transformative • People flow into transformative fields • “Young fields” are more transformative; “Old fields” are higher impact • Currently working on validation 11
- 12. Collaborators • Katy Borner, IU • Robert Light, IU • Gerald Marschke, Albany • Joe Staudt, OSU / Census • Huifeng Yu, Albany • Bruce Weinberg, Ohio State, weinberg.27@osu.edu