Open AccessA comparison of two techniques for bibliometric mapping: Multidimensional scaling and VOS
Author(s) -
van Eck Nees Jan,
Waltman Ludo,
Dekker Rommert,
van den Berg Jan
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of the american society for information science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1532-2890
pISSN - 1532-2882
DOI - 10.1002/asi.21421
Subject(s) - multidimensional scaling , computer science , relation (database) , representation (politics) , data mining , scaling , multidimensional data , information retrieval , mathematics , machine learning , geometry , politics , political science , law
VOS is a new mapping technique that can serve as an alternative to the well‐known technique of multidimensional scaling (MDS). We present an extensive comparison between the use of MDS and the use of VOS for constructing bibliometric maps. In our theoretical analysis, we show the mathematical relation between the two techniques. In our empirical analysis, we use the techniques for constructing maps of authors, journals, and keywords. Two commonly used approaches to bibliometric mapping, both based on MDS, turn out to produce maps that suffer from artifacts. Maps constructed using VOS turn out not to have this problem. We conclude that in general maps constructed using VOS provide a more satisfactory representation of a dataset than maps constructed using well‐known MDS approaches.