Applications and researches of geographic information system technologies in bibliometrics

Although the research and application of a geographic information system (GIS) in bibliometrics remains in its initial stage, several valuable attempts have been made in recent years. This paper provides our overview regarding this area. We first reviewed the spatial information mining derived from literature, including structured and unstructured data. The spatial display and the basic spatial operations for the geographic information derived from literature were then introduced, demonstrating that GIS can be directly used to construct digital libraries. Some literature database websites have begun to utilize WEBGIS to display the spatial distribution of an author’s location. Additionally, the spatial distribution information can be displayed in various modes with other specialized tools. Potential spatial analyses in bibliometrics were then discussed, introducing geostatistical and buffer analyses as case studies. Finally, several bibliometric indicators attached with research units were investigated. When the quantitative research index units are linked with the research spatial position, they can be displayed, queried and retrieved spatially. Future work to advance the application and research of GIS in bibliometrics is still warranted.