Development of a thematic filter for the bibliometric delimitation on interdisciplinary area: the case of Marine Science

Abstract

In this methodological note, the recall and precision of a mixed thematic filter developed for the delimitation of the Marine Science area by means of specialised journals and keywords is analysed, and its efficiency is compared with a delimitation based only on scientific journals. The scientific production of Marine Science in Spain during 1994-2004 as covered by SCI, SSCI & AHCI is analysed. A high precision (96%) but a very low recall (close to 30%) is obtained by the delimitation strategy based only on scientific journals. The mixed filter presents a lower precision (69%) but a higher recall (around 75%). The joumal-based delimitation provides an incomplete view of the area in which high-impact documents published in journals of other disciplines are ignored. The interest of developing advanced filters for the delimitation of scientific areas and the importance of expert opinions in order to obtain a balance between precision and recall are stressed.