Course description

The CWTS Scientometrics Summer School explores these questions from a scientometric perspective. Participants will be introduced to methods and techniques that use scientometric data sources, for instance the metadata of scholarly publications, to address the above questions. The summer school will cover general quantitative methods, such as network analysis and text analysis, as well as scientometric methods such as citation analysis and co-authorship analysis. Major scientometric data sources, including Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar, will be discussed, including their strengths and limitations. The summer school will emphasize practical applications by engaging participants with the data. Visualization of science will play an important role throughout the course, with a special focus on the use of the VOSviewer software.

The practical applications of scientometrics will be placed within a broader theoretical perspective. The main frameworks of philosophy and sociology of science will be introduced and some of the most pressing questions in the study of science will be discussed: How does science progress? How do scholars build on previous knowledge? How is scientific practice influenced by social factors?

The summer school will close by critically examining the research system. We will discuss the role of scientometric indicators (e.g., journal impact factor and h-index) in the research system, take a closer look at evaluations, funding, and career opportunities, and discuss how scientometric evaluations may have both beneficial and detrimental effects on scientific practice. The summer school will be highly relevant to students pursuing a doctoral degree in scientometrics, but also to doctoral students from other fields who want to make use of scientometric methods in their research.

The CWTS Scientometrics Summer School is unique in its exclusive focus on PhD candidates and other (junior) researchers. Other summer schools and courses in scientometrics, offered both at CWTS and elsewhere (e.g., the European Summer School for Scientometrics), address a mixed audience consisting of both researchers and practitioners. By focusing exclusively on PhD candidates and (junior) researchers, the CWTS Scientometrics Summer School is able to provide scientometric education with a strong emphasis on fundamental scientific problems in the field of scientometrics.

Full programme

Intended audience

• PhD candidates and early post-docs from all disciplines.
• English speaking.
• No pre-requisite knowledge.