Geography as "an epitome of science": a scientometric analysis of specialization and integration of the discipline

Research Project

Project/Area Number	15K12457
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Research Field	Geography
Research Institution	Chukyo University
Principal Investigator	HANIBUCHI Tomoya 中京大学, 国際教養学部, 教授 (40460589)
Project Period (FY)	2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 2017)
Budget Amount *help	¥3,640,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥840,000) Fiscal Year 2017: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000) Fiscal Year 2016: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000) Fiscal Year 2015: ¥2,210,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥510,000)
Keywords	科学計量学 / 引用 / 著者 / 地理学 / 書誌情報
Outline of Final Research Achievements	This study conducted a scientometric analysis of articles on geography, which included a range of human, social, and natural scientific fields, in order to quantitatively demonstrate the characteristics of knowledge production and its temporal changes. Information on the articles, authors, and cited references were collected from the Geographical Review of Japan, a principal geography journal in Japan, and a database for the analysis was constructed. The statistical analysis demonstrated that significant temporal changes were visible in many aspects including predominant sub-disciplines, article types, authorships, the author’s profile such as age and gender, and references cited in the articles, indicating that knowledge production in Japanese geography is not stable but dynamic in nature.