Science Maps Within a Science Policy Context

Abstract

Science mapping within the science policy and research management context has had a promising start during the seventies, but it lasted until the early nineties before useful technology was developed to make it really work. Recently domain visualization seems to have become a mature research area. Therefore, the actual potential of visualization for this particular purpose can be explored in more detail. In this chapter a short history is outlined and the current possibilities and requirements of contributing to a sound evaluation tool in the near future are listed. By using a case study the potential of bibliometric maps is illustrated within a policy context. It shows how these maps may be used to visualize the research focus of actors within one field and to compare them. The main issue raised in this chapter is the requirement of reference points in order to make useful comparisons.