Scientometrics
and Communication Theory:
Towards
Theoretically Informed Indicators
Scientometrics
38(1) (1977),
155-174
Science
and Technology Dynamics
Amsterdam
School of Communications Research (ASCoR)
Kloveniersburgwal 48, 1012 CX Amsterdam,
The Netherlands
&
Peter Van den Besselaar
Netherlands
Institute for Scientific Information Services (NIWI)
Postbus
95110, 1090 HC Amsterdam, The
Netherlands
Abstract
A
theory of citations should not consider cited and/or citing agents as its sole
subject of study. One is able to study
also the dynamics in the networks of communications. While communicating agents (e.g., authors, laboratories,
journals) can be made comparable in terms of their publication and citation
counts, one would expect the communication networks not to be homogeneous. The latent structures of the network
indicate different codifications that span a space of possible
"translations". The various
subdynamics can be hypothesized from an evolutionary perspective. Using the network of aggregated
journal-journal citations in Science & Technology Studies as an
empirical case, the operation of such subdynamics can be demonstrated. Policy implications and the consequences for
a theory-driven type of scientometrics will be elaborated.