Artículos

This paper presents an analysis of the Overton policy document database, describing the makeup of materials indexed and the nature in which they cite academic literature. We report on various aspects of the data, including growth, geographic spread, language representation, the range of policy source types included, and the availability of citation links in documents. Longitudinal analysis over established journal category schemes is used to reveal the scale and disciplinary focus of citations and determine the feasibility of developing field-normalized citation indicators. To corroborate the data indexed, we also examine how well self-reported funding outcomes collected by UK funders correspond to data indexed in the Overton database. Finally, to test the data in an experimental setting, we assess whether peer-review assessment of impact as measured by the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 correlates with derived policy citation metrics. Our findings show that for some research topics, such as health, economics, social care, and the environment, Overton contains a core set of policy documents with sufficient citation linkage to academic literature to support various citation analyses that may be informative in research evaluation, impact assessment, and policy review.

The study of vertebrate palaeontology in the United Kingdom holds a significant position in global research. This study conducts a comprehensive bibliometric analysis and topic modelling of UK vertebrate palaeontology from 2014 to 2023, utilizing data from the DeepBone database and Web of Science. A total of 2884 publications were analysed using bibliometric methods and Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) to identify key research themes, institutional contributions, and international collaborations. The results reveal a significant increase in publication volume over the decade, peaking in 2021 with 374 papers. High-impact journals such as Nature and Science published approximately 6.60% of the total papers. The LDA analysis identified seven primary research themes, including morphology, palaeoanthropology, evolutionary biology, and geological periods. The Natural History Museum, University of Bristol, and University of Oxford emerged as major contributing institutions. Scientists from the United States were found to be the most frequent international collaborator. The average impact factor of the top journals in the field was 8.28 in 2024, highlighting the high quality of UK vertebrate palaeontology research. This study provides objective insights into the current state of vertebrate palaeontology in the UK, emphasizing its multidisciplinary nature, the importance of international cooperation in the field.

Vertebrate palaeontology, essential for understanding the evolutionary processes of backboned animals, has witnessed substantial increase in research activity and publications over the past decade. This bibliometric analysis utilising the data from the DeepBone database, which includes 9,255 literature entries, with 8,259 overlapping entries from the Web of Science, to capture these changes. Our analysis reveals a continuous growth in publication volumes over the decade, alongside a marked expansion in interdisciplinary collaborations and the integration of innovative technological methodologies. The contribution of key regions such as the U.S.A., UK, Argentina, and China underscores the global collaboration in vertebrate palaeontology. The EU, despite its foundational economic and political union focus, stands out as a key contributor in vertebrate palaeontology, showing its extensive influence on scientific collaboration and research funding. A thematic exploration using keyword analysis and Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) analysis identifies prominent research themes, highlighting the field’s towards integrated research approaches. This study offers a quantitative overview of the recent decade in vertebrate palaeontology, providing insights into dynamic trends, major contributions, and future research directions in the field.

Bibliometrics in the social sciences, humanities and arts (SSHA) are hampered by the limited presence of scholarly journals in analysis tools traditionally used. We analyzed the level of indexing of Canadian journal author affiliations in Dimensions.ai and OpenAlex to assess effects on bibliometric research. Annually, around 3,500 articles signed by Canadian researchers and published in Canadian journals remained irretrievable. Incomplete indexing particularly affects journals associated with not-for-profit publishers and those publishing in French. A fair representation of national SSHA research could enhance our understanding of publishing trends and contribute to the sustainability of the Canadian journals.