1,721,122 research outputs found

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship

    Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis

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    We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis

    The Meaning of Global Ocean Ridge Basalt Major Element Compositions

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    Mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) are arguably the most abundant and also the simplest igneous rocks on the Earth. A correct understanding of their petrogenesis thus sets the cornerstone of igneous petrogenesis in general and also forms the foundation for studying mantle dynamics. Because major element compositions determine the mineralogy, phase equilibria and physical properties of rocks and magmas, understanding global MORB major element systematics is of prime importance. The correlated large MORB major element compositional variations are well understood as the result of cooling-dominated crustal-level processes (e.g. fractional crystallization, magma mixing, melt–rock assimilation or reaction, and other aspects of complex open-magma chamber processes), but it remains under debate what messages MORB major elements may carry about mantle sources and processes. To reveal mantle messages, it is logical to correct MORB melts for the effects of crustal-level processes to Mg# ≥ 0·72 to be in equilibrium with mantle olivine of ≥Fo90. Such corrected MORB major element (e.g. Si72, Ti72, Al72, Fe72, Mg72, Ca72 and Na72) compositional variations thus reflect fertile mantle compositional variation, composition-controlled mantle physical property variation (e.g. density and solidus), variation in the extent and pressure of melting, and uncertainties associated with the correction. The correction-related uncertainties can be removed through justified heavy averaging. Because ridge axial depth variation (∼0 to ∼6000 m below sea level) and plate spreading rate variation (150 mm a–1) are the two largest known physical variables along the global ocean ridge system, possible correlations of MORB major element compositions at Mg# ≥ 0·72 with these two physical variables are expected to reveal intrinsic controls on global MORB petrogenesis and ocean ridge dynamics. Indeed, global MORB major element data averaged with respect to both ridge axial depth intervals and ridge spreading rate intervals show significant first-order correlations. These correlations lead to the conclusion that the ridge axial depth variation and MORB chemistry variation are two different effects of a common cause, induced by fertile mantle compositional variation. The latter determines (1) variation in both composition and mode of mantle mineralogy, (2) variation of mantle density, (3) variation of ridge axial depth, (4) source-inherited MORB compositional variation, (5) density-controlled variation in the maximum extent of mantle upwelling, (6) apparent variation in the extent of melting, and (7) the correlated variation of MORB chemistry with ridge axial depth. These correlations also confirm the recognition that the extent of mantle melting increases with, and is caused by, increasing plate spreading rate. Mantle temperature variation could play a part, but its overstated role in the literature results from a basic error (1) in treating ridge axial depth variation as solely caused by mantle temperature variation by ignoring the intrinsic control of mantle composition, (2) in treating mantle plume-influenced ridges (e.g. Iceland) as normal ridges of plate spreading origin, and (3) in treating seismic low velocity at great depths (>300 km) beneath these mantle plume-influenced ridges as evidence for hot ridge mantle. There is no evidence for large mantle temperature variation beneath ridges away from mantle plumes. The suggested conclusions of this study may continue to be debated, but they are most objective, and are most consistent with petrological, geochemical, geological and geophysical principles and observations
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