Suchergebnisse

The dissemination of experimental materials, instruments, and methods is central to the progress of research in genetics. In recent years, competition for research funding and intellectual property issues have increasingly presented barriers to the dissemination of this "research-related information. "Information gathered in interviews with experimental geneticists and analysis of acknowledgment patterns in published genetics research are used to construct a series of basic scenarios for the exchange of genetic materials and research methods. The discussion focuses on factors affecting individuals' behavior and expectations as information requesters and information providers.

Multidimensional scaling (MDS) and clustering analysis of the co-citation patterns of 58 authors are used to explore the intellectual organization of population genetics and related specialties. In two dimensions, author clusters are arranged along a horizontal continuum reflecting a range of research specializations from highly molecular-oriented research to that focusing on the analysis of organisms interacting with each other and their environment. The vertical dimension separates theoretical (formal) approaches from research that is primarily experimental or observational in nature. Author placement and cluster assignment may also reflect institutional affiliations and national research efforts. Co-cited author mapping, with the author as the unit of analysis, is likely to complement studies of informal communication networks.

The degree of interdiseiplinarity observed in the analysis of a research literature can depend on the analytical approach Subject assignments of highly cited journals and those frequently publishing topic-relevant articles are compared with data from a recent survey of neural networks researchers. Publication subject patterns parallel the survey results-concentrating heavily in the physical sciences and engineering-while the biological and psychological literature is more visible in citation patterns This finding may reflect both discipline-specific differences in size and publishing patterns and cross-boundary problems in the perceived usefulness of and access to published information.