Bibliometric & Scientometric Analysis — Method Guide

Bibliometrics quantitatively maps a field's structure and evolution. In AEC it is widely used to frame review papers. Used well it is rigorous; used badly it is "descriptive statistics dressed as insight" — push for interpretation, not just colourful network pictures.

1. Two complementary analysis families

Performance analysis (productivity & impact): publications per year, most-productive/most-cited authors, institutions, countries, journals; citation counts; h/g-index; Bradford's law (core journals); Lotka's law (author productivity). Science mapping (structure & dynamics):

• Co-citation (of references/authors/journals) → intellectual base / foundational works.
• Bibliographic coupling (shared references) → current research fronts / active clusters.
• Co-word / keyword co-occurrence → conceptual/thematic structure & trends.
• Co-authorship → social/collaboration structure (authors, institutions, countries).
• Thematic evolution / overlay timelines → how themes rise, merge, fade (CiteSpace bursts; Bibliometrix thematic map quadrants: motor / niche / emerging-declining / basic themes).