Delayed recognition: Recent developments and a proposal to study this phenomenon as a fuzzy concept

Abstract

New developments in the study of delayed recognition are discussed. Based on these new developments a method is proposed to characterize delayed recognition as a fuzzy concept. A benchmark value of 0.333 corresponding with linear growth is obtained. Moreover, a case is discovered in which an expert found delayed recognition several years before citation analysis could discover this phenomenon. As all citation studies also this one is database dependent. Delayed recognition is turned into a fuzzy concept. The article presents a new way of studying delayed recognition.