Bibliographic coupling

Bibliographic coupling occurs when two works reference a common third work in their bibliographies. The coupling strength is higher the more citations the two bodies have in common, and this coupling is used to extrapolate how similar the subject matter of the two works is. Bibliographic coupling is invaluable in all fields of research since it helps the researcher to find related research done in the past. A closely-related notion is the "co-citation index," which refers to the "number" of times two works are cited together in subsequent literature. [Jeppe Nicolaisen, [http://www.db.dk/bh/Core%20Concepts%20in%20LIS/articles%20a-z/cocitation_by_jeppe_nicolaisen.htm Co-citation] , in Birger Hjørland, ed., [http://www.db.dk/bh/Core%20Concepts%20in%20LIS/home.htm Core Concepts in Library and Information Science] ]

The term "bibliographic coupling" was first introduced by MM Kessler in a paper published in 1963, ["Bibliographic coupling between scientific papers," "American Documentation" 24 (1963), pp. 123-131.] and has been embraced in the work of the information scientist Eugene Garfield. [See for example "Multiple Independent Discovery and Creativity in Science," "Current Contents", Nov. 3, 1980, pp. 5-10, reprinted in [http://www.garfield.library.upenn.edu/essays.html Essays of an Information Scientist] , vol. 4 (1979-80), pp. 660-665.] Others have questioned the usefulness of the concept, pointing out that the two works may reference completely unrelated subject matter in the third.

Some examples of online sites that make use of bibliographic coupling include [http://liinwww.ira.uka.de/bibliography/ The Collection of Computer Science Bibliographies] and [http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/cs CiteSeer.IST]

References

External links

Jeppe Nicolaisen, [http://www.db.dk/bh/Core%20Concepts%20in%20LIS/articles%20a-z/Bibliographic%20coupling.htm Bibliographic coupling] in Birger Hjørland, ed., [http://www.db.dk/bh/Core%20Concepts%20in%20LIS/home.htm Core Concepts in Library and Information Science]