How are they used?
Disciplinary Maps are used to provide a basic understanding of how science is organized.
They are particularly useful in analyzing or comparing the disciplinary profiles of nations, funding agencies, or other institutions such as universities. For instance, our disciplinary map provides a detailed template on which the funding profiles for divisions with the U.S. National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation can be visualized and compared.
Most funding agencies focus on a set of related disciplines. Their activity will show up in a specific region of the map (such as computer science).
Other institutions build on disciplines that are not proximate on the map. These institutions are more inter-disciplinary in scope.
Competency Maps allow one to identify the interdisciplinary strengths of a research, lab, institution, region, or nation.
Competencies (or strengths) are networks of paradigms in which an institution has a leadership position.
Three different types of research leadership can identified from the research literature. One can be a reference leader (have the largest number of highly cited references), a publication leader (the largest number of current publications), or a leader in state-of-the-art (building on the most recent discoveries in the field).
Drill-down information that includes lists of top researchers and top competitors can be provided for each competency or strength.
Paradigm maps can be generated for each competency.
Paradigm Maps are used for planning research efforts in a specific area of research.
These maps are particularly helpful if an area of research is difficult to define. They can show how the structure of the field has changed over time.
Paradigm maps can be linked to patents or grants to provide additional insights into the transition from basic to applied research.
Paradigms maps can also be used to show which areas of research are considered ‘hot’ by experts in the field. Validated data on what areas of research are ‘hot’ is especially valuable to decision-makers.
Drill down capabilities allow the user to identify the research leaders for specific areas of science.