Evolution of the Development of Scientometrics

The term “Scientometrics” was coined in 1969 by scholars from the former Soviet Union. After decades of growth, the international field of scientometrics has become increasingly mature. This research examines the growth of the Scientometrics journal, measured by annual publication number and growth, annual citation frequency, annual growth of citation frequency by applying correlation analysis and regression analysis, in an attempt to model the literature growth of the journal. By considering internationally important events in the field of scientometrics since 1978, the growth of the discipline is divided into three stages. Each stage is further analyzed using regression analysis to trace the literature growth. In addition, based on visualization method, the main topic areas are identified for each of the three stages of scientometrics’ development.