Article · Volume 12, Issue 2 · pp. 509–519

Use of Bibliometrics-Related Terms, their Evolution, and the Growth of Metrics in Science

Yves Fassin^1,2, Ronald Rousseau^2,3

¹Department of Marketing, Innovation, and Organisation, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Gent, BELGIUM.
²University of Antwerp, Middelheimlaan 1, Faculty of Social Sciences, Antwerp, BELGIUM.
³KU Leuven, MSI, Facultair Onderzoekscentrum ECOOM, Naamsestraat 61, Leuven, BELGIUM.

Abstract

This article analyses the evolution of the most-used terms referring to the (broad) field of bibliometrics. It compares the number of publications on bibliometrics, scientometrics, informetrics, web(o)metrics, altmetrics, and the science of science, in three international databases, the Web of Science, Scopus, and Dimensions. We found that the relative number of documents using one of the metrics-related terms is showing a more than exponential increase. This illustrates the increasing importance of metrics in the world of science. While most terms separately show a clear increase in use, web(o)metrics and perhaps, informetrics, seem to have reached their top. Bibliometrics and scientometrics are the most-used terms, with, nowadays, the term bibliometrics being used about five times more than the term scientometrics. Any comprehensive bibliometric st

Keywords: Bibliometrics; Scientometrics; Informetrics; Webmetrics; Altmetrics; Science of science; Quantitative science studies; Database queries

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