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. 2017;111(2):1053-1070.
doi: 10.1007/s11192-017-2300-7. Epub 2017 Feb 27.

Citation-based clustering of publications using CitNetExplorer and VOSviewer

Nees Jan van Eck  1 , Ludo Waltman  1
Affiliations

Citation-based clustering of publications using CitNetExplorer and VOSviewer

Nees Jan van Eck et al. Scientometrics. 2017.

Abstract

Clustering scientific publications in an important problem in bibliometric research. We demonstrate how two software tools, CitNetExplorer and VOSviewer, can be used to cluster publications and to analyze the resulting clustering solutions. CitNetExplorer is used to cluster a large set of publications in the field of astronomy and astrophysics. The publications are clustered based on direct citation relations. CitNetExplorer and VOSviewer are used together to analyze the resulting clustering solutions. Both tools use visualizations to support the analysis of the clustering solutions, with CitNetExplorer focusing on the analysis at the level of individual publications and VOSviewer focusing on the analysis at an aggregate level. The demonstration provided in this paper shows how a clustering of publications can be created and analyzed using freely available software tools. Using the approach presented in this paper, bibliometricians are able to carry out sophisticated cluster analyses without the need to have a deep knowledge of clustering techniques and without requiring advanced computer skills.

Keywords: CitNetExplorer; Citation; Clustering; VOSviewer.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
CitNetExplorer visualization of the 100 most frequently cited publications in level 1 clusters 1, 2, 3, and 4. Colors indicate the level 1 cluster to which a publication belongs. (Color figure online)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
CitNetExplorer visualization of the 100 most frequently cited publications in level 1 cluster 2. Colors indicate the level 3 cluster to which a publication belongs. (Color figure online)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
VOSviewer visualization of the 22 level 1 clusters and their citation relations. An interactive version of the visualization is available online at http://goo.gl/968hLw
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
VOSviewer term map visualization for level 1 cluster 3. The visualization shows 1420 terms extracted from the titles and abstracts of the publications belonging to the cluster. The strongest co-occurrence relations between terms are shown as well. An interactive version of the visualization is available online at http://goo.gl/sotbF1
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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