Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RPYS) of Eugene Garfield's publications

TL;DR

This paper applies the RPYS method using the CRExplorer tool to analyze Eugene Garfield's publications, uncovering the historical influences and foundational works that shaped his scientific contributions.

Contribution

It demonstrates the use of RPYS and CRExplorer to trace the historical roots of a prominent scientist's work, providing a novel application of bibliometric analysis.

Findings

Identified key publications influencing Garfield

Mapped the evolution of Garfield's research interests

Highlighted the historical context of Garfield's scientific development

Abstract

Which studies, theories, and ideas have influenced Eugene Garfield's scientific work? Recently, the method reference publication year spectroscopy (RPYS) has been introduced, which can be used to answer this and related questions. Since then, several studies have been published dealing with the historical roots of research fields and scientists. The program CRExplorer (http://www.crexplorer.net) was specifically developed for RPYS. In this study, we use this program to investigate the historical roots of Eugene Garfield's oeuvre.