MAPPING THE SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL-SCIENCES WORLD-WIDE - USE OF MAPS IN PORTFOLIO ANALYSIS OF NATIONAL RESEARCH EFFORTS

We have developed a method to identify and map the internationally mos t visible research topics occurring in the social and behavioral scien ces, as well as the topics which changed most over a decade. Methods a nd data relevant to a portfolio analysis of national research efforts are described. Keywords used by authors in scientific or scholarly pub lications provide a window on scientific developments and changes in s cientific research. Using an interdisciplinary database, the SSCI, dev elopments in publications were traced world-wide and for the US, UK, F rance, Germany, and the Netherlands. We compared two periods: 1981-85 and 1986-90. We discuss the major substantive developments occurring d uring 1981-1990, as visible in maps depicting both topics and discipli nes. It is shown that the maps, enriched with scientometric indicators of strengths and weaknesses of national research efforts, can be impo rtant tools for science policy. The findings indicate that the researc h front on many topics in both social and behavioral sciences is inter national in the late 1980s.