A bibliometric analysis of citation diversity in accessibility and HCI research

TL;DR

This study analyzes citation patterns in accessibility and HCI research, revealing increasing interdisciplinary influence from psychology and medicine, and comparing citation diversity across key venues over time.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of citation diversity and interdisciplinary influences in accessibility and HCI research.

Findings

Citations from psychology and medicine have increased over time.

CHI shows higher citation diversity than ASSETS.

Both venues exhibit standard diversity levels within the broader HCI community.

Abstract

Accessibility research sits at the junction of several disciplines, drawing influence from HCI, disability studies, psychology, education, and more. To characterize the influences and extensions of accessibility research, we undertake a study of citation trends for accessibility and related HCI communities. We assess the diversity of venues and fields of study represented among the referenced and citing papers of 836 accessibility research papers from ASSETS and CHI, finding that though publications in computer science dominate these citation relationships, the relative proportion of citations from papers on psychology and medicine has grown over time. Though ASSETS is a more niche venue than CHI in terms of citational diversity, both conferences display standard levels of diversity among their incoming and outgoing citations when analyzed in the context of 53K papers from 13 accessibility and HCI conference venues.