Citation Network Analysis using Gephi
How to Use VOSViewer for Citation Analysis
What is the Difference Between Analysis Types in VOSViewer?
Bibliometric analysis can be divided into two primary categories - performance analysis and scientific mapping. Performance analysis is generally used to determine researcher, college/school, institutional, or country productivity. Scientific mapping is often associated with creating visualizations and examining the social and collaborative relationships between authors, institutions, countries, and even specific publications in a given subject area.
Each tool and database on this list has good features and bad features, depending on your preference. Some tools may be better suited for use than others, but ultimately, it is up to individual preference, knowledge, and comfort levels. For specific recommendations, please reach out to Christina Miskey, Research Impact Librarian.
Citation Databases
Web of Science. Content coverage for this database is focused on the sciences, medicine, and social sciences. Allows users to export a plain text or tab-delimited file or utilize the API, to obtain citation data. Data is limited to 100,000 records per query. Institutional login required.
Scopus. Content coverage for this database is multidisciplinary. Allows users to export a RIS or CSV (comma-separated values) file or utilize the API, to obtain citation data. Data is limited to the first 2,000 records in a query. Institutional login required.
Dimensions. This database's content coverage is focused primarily on the sciences, medicine, business, and social sciences. Allows users to perform powerful and complex queries with their API or export a CSV or Excel file. Queries are limited to the first 50,000 records with either method. Free to access, but account creation is recommended.
Google Scholar. Content coverage for this search engine is multidisciplinary. Users can perform simple or more complex queries, but currently, no export method is available. There is no publicly available or subscription-based API. Free to access.
OpenAlex. An open catalog of scholarly research from around the world. This database uses a variety of sources, such as ORCID, ROR, Unpaywall, PubMed, and more to pull in citation data. Users can download bulk datasets or utilize its API. Free to access.
Performance analysis tools
CRExplorer. Cited References Explorer uses data downloaded from Scopus and Web of Science to perform citation analysis over time and is often used to determine influential publications in a subject area. Free to download and use.
Publish or Perish. A software program that pulls information from several databases, including Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, Microsoft Academic, and CrossRef. Free to download and use.
ScientoPyUI. An open-source software program allows users to import data downloaded from Scopus and Web of Science to perform a scientific analysis of citations, find the H-Index, and more. Free to download and use.
Scientific mapping & visualization tools
VOSviewer. A software tool made for "constructing and visualizing bibliometric networks. These networks may, for instance, include journals, researchers, or individual publications, and they can be constructed based on citation, bibliographic coupling, co-citation, or co-authorship relationships." Free to download and use.
CiteSpace. A Java-supported tool for "visualizing and analyzing trends and patterns in scientific literature. Primarily used for Web of Science, though data from other sides such as arXiv, PubMed, and NSF Award Abstracts can be obtained. Free to download and use.
Bibliometrix. An open-source R-tool that is used to complete complex scientific bibliometric analysis. It uses data from Scopus, Web of Science, Dimensions, PubMed, and Cochrane. Requires in-depth knowledge of R, but has a new released (biblioshiny) that is for non-coders. Free to download, use and modify.
Gephi. An open-source network and visualization software that allows users to import data from almost anywhere under-supported file formats. Requires knowledge of Java and/or OpenGL to use fully. Free to download and use.
Sci2. A scientific visualization and analysis tool that scientists and librarians designed for scientists. Note that Docker must run on current macOS but is functional on Windows PC and Linux operating systems. Free to download and use.