Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A delineating procedure to retrieve relevant publication data in research areas: the case of nanocellulose

  • Published:
Scientometrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Advances concerning publication-level classification system have been demonstrated striking results by dealing properly with emergent, complex and interdisciplinary research areas, such as nanotechnology and nanocellulose. However, less attention has been paid to propose a delineating method to retrieve relevant research areas on specific subjects. This study aims at proposing a procedure to delineate research areas addressed in case nanocellulose. We investigate how a bibliometric analysis could provide interesting insights into research about this sustainable nanomaterial. The research topics clustered by a Publication-level Classification System were used. The procedure involves an iterative process, which includes developing and cleaning a set of core publication regarding the subject and an analysis of clusters they are associated with. Nanocellulose was selected as the subject of study, but the methodology may be applied to any other research area or topic. A discussion about each step of the procedure is provided. The proposed delineation procedure enables us to retrieve relevant publications from research areas involving nanocellulose. Seventeen research topics were mapped and associated with current research challenges on nanocellulose.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arora, S. K., Porter, A. L., Youtie, J., & Shapira, P. (2012). Capturing new developments in an emerging technology: An updated search strategy for identifying nanotechnology research outputs. Scientometrics, 95(1), 351–370. doi:10.1007/s11192-012-0903-6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Azizi Samir, M. A. S., Alloin, F., & Dufresne, A. (2005). Review of recent research into cellulosic whiskers, their properties and their application in nanocomposite field. Biomacromolecules, 6(2), 612–626. doi:10.1021/bm0493685.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beecher, J. (2007). Wood, trees and nanotechnology. Nature Nanotechnology, 2(August), 466–467.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyack, K. W., Newman, D., Duhon, R. J., Klavans, R., Patek, M., Biberstine, J. R., et al. (2011). Clustering more than two million biomedical publications: Comparing the accuracies of nine text-based similarity approaches. PLoS ONE, 6(3), e18029. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0018029.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, A. J. (1886). On an acetic ferment which forms cellulose. Journal of the Chemical Society, Transactions, 49, 432–439. doi:10.1039/ct8864900432.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charreau, H., Foresti, M. L., & Vazquez, A. (2013). Nanocellulose patents trends: A comprehensive review on patents on cellulose nanocrystals, microfibrillated and bacterial cellulose. Recent Patents on Nanotechnology, 7(1), 56–80. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22747719

  • Chirayil, C. J., Mathew, L., & Thomas, S. (2014). Review of recent research in nanocellulose preparation from different lignocellulosic fibers. Review of Advanced Materials Science, 37, 20–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dai, L., Long, Z., Ren, X., Deng, H., He, H., & Liu, W. (2014). Electrospun polyvinyl alcohol/waterborne polyurethane composite nanofibers involving cellulose nanofibers. Journal of Applied Polymer, 41051, 1–6. doi:10.1002/app.41051.

    Google Scholar 

  • Domingues, R. M. A., Gomes, M. E., & Reis, R. L. (2014). The potential of cellulose nanocrystals in tissue engineering strategies. Biomacromolecules, 15, 2327–2346.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dufresne, A. (2013). Nanocellulose: A new ageless bionanomaterial. Materials Today, 16(6), 220–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Durán, N., Lemes, A. P., & Seabra, A. B. (2012). Review of cellulose nanocrystals patents: Preparation, composites and general applications. Recent Patents on Nanotechnology, 6(1), 16–28. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21875405

  • Eichhorn, S. J., Dufresne, A., Aranguren, M., Marcovich, N. E., Capadona, J. R., Rowan, S. J., et al. (2010). Review: Current international research into cellulose nanofibres and nanocomposites. Journal of Materials Science, 45(1), 1–33. doi:10.1007/s10853-009-3874-0.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gardner, D. J., Oporto, G. S., Mills, R., & Samir, M. A. S. A. (2008). Adhesion and surface issues in cellulose and nanocellulose. Journal of Adhesion Science and Technology, 22(5–6), 545–567. doi:10.1163/156856108X295509.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glanzel, W., & Schubert, A. (2003). A new classification scheme of science fields and subfields designed for scientometric evaluation purposes. Scientometrics, 56(3), 357–367.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang, C., Notten, A., & Rasters, N. (2011). Nanoscience and technology publications and patents: A review of social science studies and search strategies. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 36(2), 145–172. doi:10.1007/s10961-009-9149-8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hullmann, A., & Meyer, M. (2003). Publications and patents in nanotechnology: An overview of previous studies and the state of the art. Scientometrics, 58(3), 507–527.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Igami, M. (2008). Exploration of the evolution of nanotechnology via mapping of patent applications. Scientometrics, 77(2), 289–308. doi:10.1007/s11192-007-1973-8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Igami, M., & Okazaki, T. (2007). Capturing nanotechnology’s current state of development via analysis of patents. Paris: OECD Publishing. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/recordDetail?accno=ED504018

  • Isogai, A. (2013). Wood nanocelluloses: Fundamentals and applications as new bio-based nanomaterials. Journal of Wood Science, 59(6), 449–459. doi:10.1007/s10086-013-1365-z.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kangas, H., Tamminen, T., Liitia, T., Hakala, T. K., Vorwerg, W., & Poppius-Levlin, K. (2014). Lignofibre (lgf) process—A flexible biorefinery for lignocellulosics. Cellulose Chemistry and Technology, 48(9–10), 765–771.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klemm, D., Kramer, F., Moritz, S., Lindström, T., Ankerfors, M., Gray, D., & Dorris, A. (2011). Nanocelluloses: A new family of nature-based materials. Angewandte Chemie, 50(24), 5438–5466. doi:10.1002/anie.201001273. (International ed. in English).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kostoff, R. N., Koytcheff, R. G., & Lau, C. G. Y. (2009). Seminal nanotechnology literature: A review. Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 9(11), 6239–6270. doi:10.1166/jnn.2009.1465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leydesdorff, L., Carley, S., & Rafols, I. (2013). Global maps of science based on the new Web-of-Science categories. Scientometrics, 94(2), 589–593. doi:10.1007/s11192-012-0784-8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leydesdorff, L., & Zhou, P. (2007). Nanotechnology as a field of science: Its delineation in terms of journals and patents. Scientometrics, 70(3), 693–713. doi:10.1007/s11192-007-0308-0.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mariano, M., Kissi, N. El, & Dufresne, A. (2014). Cellulose nanocrystals and related nanocomposites: Review of some properties and challenges. Journal of Polymer Science, 52, 791–806. doi:10.1002/polb.23490.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milanez, D. H., Amaral, R. M., Do, Faria, De, L. I. L., & Gregolin, J. A. R. (2013). Assessing nanocellulose developments using science and technology indicators. Materials Research, 16(3), 635–641. doi:10.1590/S1516-14392013005000033.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milanez, D. H., Conserva, A. C. A., Amaral, R. M., Faria, L. I. L., Gregolin, J. A. R., Carlos, A., et al. (2014a). Análise de bases de dados e termos de busca para estudos bibliométricos e monitoramento científico em nanocelulose. Em Questão, 20(3).114–133.

    Google Scholar 

  • Milanez, D. H., Faria, L. I. L., Amaral, R. M., Leiva, D. R., & Gregolin, J. A. R. (2014b). Patents in nanotechnology: An analysis using macro-indicators and forecasting curves. Scientometrics,. doi:10.1007/s11192-014-1244-4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Milanez, D. H., & Noyons, E. C. M. (2015). A delineating procedure to retrieve relevant research areas on nanocellulose. In Proceedings of the 15th international conference on scientometrics and informetrics (pp. 959–970). Istambul, Turkey.

  • Moon, R. J., Martini, A., Nairn, J., Simonsen, J., & Youngblood, J. (2011). Cellulose nanomaterials review: Structure, properties and nanocomposites. Chemical Society Reviews, 40(7), 3941–3994. doi:10.1039/c0cs00108b.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neuhaus, C., & Daniel, H. D. (2009). A new reference standard for citation analysis in chemistry and related fields based on the sections of Chemical Abstracts. Scientometrics, 78(2), 219–229. doi:10.1007/s11192-007-2007-2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newman, M. (2005). Power laws, Pareto distributions and Zipf’s law. Contemporary Physics, 46(5), 323–351. doi:10.1080/00107510500052444.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noyons, E., Buter, R., Buter, R., Schmoch, U., Van Raan, A., Heinze, T., et al. (2003). Mapping excellence in science and technology across Europe life sciences. Leiden: CWTS. Retrieved from http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&btnG=Search&q=intitle:Mapping+Excellence+in+Science+and+Technology+across+Europe+-+Life+Sciences#0

  • Orts, W. J., Shey, J., Imam, S. H., Glenn, G. M., Guttman, M. E., & Revol, J.-F. (2005). Application of cellulose microfibrils in polymer nanocomposites. Journal of Polymers and the Environment, 13(4), 301–306. doi:10.1007/s10924-005-5514-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pääkkö, M., et al. (2007). Enzymatic hydrolysis combined with mechanical shearing and high-pressure homogenization for nanoscale cellulose fibrils and strong gels. Biomacromolecules, 8(6), 1934–1941. doi:10.1021/bm061215p.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Porter, A. L., Youtie, J., Shapira, P., & Schoeneck, D. J. (2008). Refining search terms for nanotechnology. Journal of Nanoparticle Research, 10(5), 715–728. doi:10.1007/s11051-007-9266-y.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Price, D. J. S. (1976). A general theory of bibiiometric and other cumulative advantage processes. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 27(5), 292–306. doi:10.1002/asi.4630270505.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruiz-Castillo, J., & Waltman, L. (2015). Field-normalized citation impact indicators using algorithmically constructed classification systems of Science. Journal of Informetrics, 9(1), 1–39. doi:10.1016/j.joi.2014.11.010.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siqueira, G., Bras, J., & Dufresne, A. (2010). Cellulosic bionanocomposites: A review of preparation. Properties and Applications. Polymers, 2(4), 728–765. doi:10.3390/polym2040728.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siró, I., & Plackett, D. (2010). Microfibrillated cellulose and new nanocomposite materials: A review. Cellulose, 17(3), 459–494. doi:10.1007/s10570-010-9405-y.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Song, Q., Winter, W. T., Bujanovic, B. M., & Amidon, T. E. (2014). Nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC): A high-value co-product that improves the economics of cellulosic ethanol production. Energies, 7(2), 607–618. doi:10.3390/en7020607.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • TAPPI. (2011). Roadmap for the development of international standards for nanocellulose. Retrieved Feb 11, 2015. http://www.tappinano.org/pdf/RoadmapforNanocelluloseStandards.pdf.

  • Tsukamoto, J., Durán, N., & Tasic, L. (2013). Nanocellulose and bioethanol production from orange waste using isolated microorganisms. Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society, 24(9), 1537–1543. doi:10.5935/0103-5053.20130195.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tubark, A. F., Snyder, F. W., & Sandberg, K. R. (1983). Microfibrillated cellulose: A new cellulose product: Properties, uses, and commercial potential. Journal of Applied Polymer Science: Applied Polymer Symposium, 30, 815–827.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Eck, N. J., & Waltman, L. (2011). Text mining and visualization using VOSviewer. ISSI Newsletter, 7(3), 50–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Eck, N. J., & Waltman, L. (2015). VOSviewer. Retrieved July 10, 2015, from: http://www.vosviewer.com/

  • Waltman, L., & van Eck, N. J. (2012). A new methodology for constructing a publication-level classification system of science. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 63(12), 2378–2392. doi:10.1002/asi.22748.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waltman, L., van Eck, N. J., & Noyons, E. C. M. (2010). A unified approach to mapping and clustering of bibliometric networks. Journal of Informetrics, 4(4), 629–635. doi:10.1016/j.joi.2010.07.002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu, J. Y., Sabo, R., & Luo, X. (2011). Integrated production of nano-fibrillated cellulose and cellulosic biofuel (ethanol) by enzymatic fractionation of wood fibers. Green Chemistry, 13(5), 1339. doi:10.1039/c1gc15103g.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zitt, M. (2015). Meso-level retrieval: IR-bibliometrics interplay and hybrid citation-words methods in scientific fields delineation. Scientometrics, 102(3), 2223–2245. doi:10.1007/s11192-014-1482-5.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the São Paulo Research Foundation (Process Number 2012/16573-7) and comments from researchers of CWTS, NIT/Materiais, and ISSI Conference. We are thankful to the Graduate Program in Materials Science and Engineering at the Federal University of São Carlos for supporting this work. We also acknowledge the nanocellulose researchers for their valuable opinion on the research areas and on the map of topics.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Information Technology in Materials (NIT/Materiais), Materials Engineering Department, Federal University of Sao Carlos, Washington Luis Highway, km 235, São Carlos, SP, Brazil

    Douglas Henrique Milanez & Leandro Innocentini Lopes de Faria

  2. Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS), Leiden University, PO Box 905, 2300 AX, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Ed Noyons

  3. Centre for Research in Technological and Organizational Intelligence (PERITO), Science Information Department, Federal University of Sao Carlos, Washington Luis Highway, km 235, São Carlos, SP, Brazil

    Douglas Henrique Milanez & Leandro Innocentini Lopes de Faria

Authors
  1. Douglas Henrique Milanez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ed Noyons
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Leandro Innocentini Lopes de Faria
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Douglas Henrique Milanez or Ed Noyons.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Milanez, D.H., Noyons, E. & de Faria, L.I.L. A delineating procedure to retrieve relevant publication data in research areas: the case of nanocellulose. Scientometrics 107, 627–643 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-016-1922-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-016-1922-5

Keywords

Mathematics Subject Classification

JEL Classification

Search

Navigation