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Co-citations and co-sitations: A cautionary view on an analogy

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Abstract

Like the citation network of scientific publications, the Web is also a graph where pages are connected together by hypertext links or “sitations”. In the new research field Webometrics, scholars have investigated equivalencies between citationist concepts established in bibliometrics and hyperlinks networks. This paper focuses on the possible analogy between co-citation and co-sitation to structure Web universes. It reports an experiment in the field of bibliometrics and scientific indicators. Several technical aspects that must be dealt with are reviewed. Co-sitation seems a promising way to delineate topics on the Web. However, the analogy with traditional co-citation is deeply misleading: many precautions must be taken in the interpretation of the results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecole des Mines, 158 Cours Fauriel, F-42023, St. Etienne, Cedex 2, France

    Camille Prime

  2. UMR EDRA, INRA-Université de Nantes, Nantes, (France)

    Elise Bassecoulard

  3. INRA-Université de Nantes Lereco, Inra Nantes, Paris, 06 93, Rue de Vaugirard UMR EDRA, (France)

    Michel Zitt

Authors
  1. Camille Prime
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  2. Elise Bassecoulard
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  3. Michel Zitt
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Prime, C., Bassecoulard, E. & Zitt, M. Co-citations and co-sitations: A cautionary view on an analogy. Scientometrics 54, 291–308 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016022214005

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