A new bibliometric approach to assess the scientific specialization of regions

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel bibliometric method using the Scientific Specialization Index (SSI) to evaluate and map the scientific specialization of Italian regions and provinces based on their research output in hard sciences from 2006 to 2010.

Contribution

It presents a new index, SSI, that considers both quantity and quality of scientific production to assess regional scientific specialization.

Findings

Identified territorial scientific specializations in Italy.

Mapped regional differences in scientific output.

Provided a new quantitative tool for regional research assessment.

Abstract

The objective of the current work is to identify the territorial scientific specializations present in Italy, at the levels of regions and provinces (NUTS2 and NUTS3). To do this, we take a bibliometric approach based on the scientific production of the entire public research system in the hard sciences sphere, for the five years 2006-2010. In particular, we apply a new index of scientific specialization (Scientific Specialization Index, SSI) that takes account of both the quantity and quality of scientific production achieved by the research institutions of a given territory.