SCIENTOMETRICS AND COMMUNICATION-THEORY - TOWARDS THEORETICALLY INFORMED INDICATORS

The theory of citations should not consider cited and/or citing agents as its sole subject of study. One is able to study also the dynamics in the networks of communications. While communicating agents (e.g., a uthors, laboratories, journals) can be made comparable in terms of the ir publication and citation counts, one would expect the communication networks not to be homogeneous. The latent structures of the network indicate different codifications that span a space of possible ''trans lations''. The various subdynamics can be hypothesized from an evoluti onary perspective. Using the network of aggregated journal-journal cit ations in Science & Technology Studies as an empirical case, the opera tion of such subdynamics can be demonstrated. Policy implications and the consequences for a theory-driven type of scientometrics will be el aborated.