Category Archives: Research Examples

Patento-scientometric indicators for the selection of projects by investment funds

CTI, Patents, Research Examples, Strategic planning,

Purpose
This paper aims to assess a method that applies scientometric and patentometric indicators in the selection process of projects by seed capital funds. There is increasing interest in technology-based enterprises, for their capacity to contribute to economic and social development. Nevertheless, in practice, there is some difficulty in assessing non-financial criteria associated with technology for the purposes of choosing investment opportunities.

Design/methodology/approach
The literature has presented various methods to instrumentalize the process of evaluation and selection of investment projects. This study focuses on an enterprise that received an investment by the largest seed capital fund in Brazil, to assess to what extent scientific and technological indicators can contribute to understanding the market potential of the firm’s technology.

Findings
The results show that the use of scientometric and patentometric indicators favors the process of judging non-financial criteria, in particular those related to technology, market, divestment and team.

Originality/value
The originality of this paper is in the evaluation of a patento-scientometric approach for the selection process of projects by seed capital funds.

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/VINE-10-2014-0056

Author(s): Gustavo da Silva Motta, Rogério Hermida Quintella, Pauli Adriano de Almada Garcia
Organization(s):Universidade Federal Fluminense, Universidade Federal da Bahia
Source: VINE
Year: 2015

Microalgal biofuel revisited: An informatics-based analysis of developments to date and future prospects

Patents, Research Examples, Research profiling, Research Type, S&T lit, , ,

Highlights

  • Microalgal biofuel studies between 1900 and mid-2015 were analyzed informatically.
  • Burst interest since 2006–2012 stimulated mass culture and biotechnology studies.
  • Unremitting study and investment is expected for better understanding of microalgae.
  • Integrated application of energy microalgae could be a possible solution.
  • Recent advances of approaches to bypass the production bottleneck were reviewed.

Abstract
Microalgae have reported to be one of the most promising feedstock for biofuel production. To obtain a comprehensive and systematic overview of the current state of microalgal research, particularly microalgal biofuel research, we retrieved and analyzed manuscripts and patents related to this topic and published between 1900 and mid-2015. We found that there was a burst in microalgal biofuel research from 2006 to 2011 that significantly stimulated the development of microalgal biotechnology for the production of high value-added commodities and for environmental applications and microalgal mass culturing, in an attempt to make the entire process of biofuel production economically viable for industrialization. However, a lag in basic microalgal research has kept production costs high, resulting in a decline in investments, funding, and research efforts in the fields of microalgal biofuel production, microalgal biotechnology, and mass culturing since 2012. Based on a review of the challenges/problems of microalgae biofuel production and recent advances of their solution, the perspective view of the future R&D needs and trends were proposed. To bypass the price bottleneck of microalgae-based biofuel production, it has been proposed that energy-producing microalgal biotechnological applications be synergistically combined with microalgal biofuel production. Future investments and funding will most likely be directed toward basic studies that aim to elucidate the microorganisms’ characteristics and toward the development of microalgal biotechnology and its environmental applications, which have potential economic and social benefits. This review represents a theoretical reference for both algal researchers and decision makers regarding the future directions of microalgal research, particularly that involving microalgal-based biofuel production.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261915008132

Author(s): Hui Chen, Tian Qiu, Junfeng Rong, Chenliu He, and Qiang Wang
Organization(s): Chinese Academy of Sciences
Source: Applied Energy
Year: 2015

Technological Landscape and Collaborations in Hybrid Vehicles Industry

Patents, Research Examples, Research profiling, Research Type

Production of hybrid vehicles has experienced intense growth in recent years. Carmakers invest significant resources into the development of advanced hybrid drives. The global perspectives of this process can be estimated by systematically analyzing patents outlined in international patent databases.

The paper assesses the state-of-art and future of the industry. Evidence from leaders in the development of hybrid vehicles demonstrates the productivity of the methodology developed by the authors for analyzing patent data .

http://ecsocman.hse.ru/hsedata/2015/06/30/1082514598/01-Rodriguez.pdf

Author(s): Marisela Rodríguez and Francisco Paredes
Organization: Centro de Innovación en Diseño y Tecnología, Tecnológico de Monterrey
Source: Foresight-Russia
Year: 2015

China’s global growth in social science research: Uncovering evidence from bibliometric analyses of SSCI publications (1978–2013)

Research evaluation, Research Examples, Research profiling, Research Type

The phenomenon of China’s rise as an emerging scientific power has been well documented, yet the development of its social science is less explored. Utilizing up-to-date Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) publication data (1978–2013), this paper probes the patterns and dynamics of China’s social science research via bibliometric analyses. Our research indicates that despite the national orientation of social science research and the linguistic obstacle of publishing for an international audience, China’s publications in the SSCI dataset have been rising in terms of volume, world share, and global ranking. But China is still not yet a major player in the arena of social sciences, as is evidenced by the number of Chinese journals indexed in SSCI and the lack of Olympic players. Team research features China’s international publishing in social science, but the research outputs are highly unbalanced at regional and institutional levels.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751157715000528

Author(s): Weishu Liu, Guangyuan Hu, Li Tang, and Yuandi Wang
Orgainzation(s): Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, and Sichuan University
Source: Journal of Informetrics
Year: 2015

Identification of technology development trends based on subject–action–object analysis: The case of dye-sensitized solar cells

Future-oriented technology analysis, Research Examples, Research Type,

Identification of technology development trends is essential for supporting decision makers in forecasting and identifying related innovation activities and industrial growth. Different from the traditional technology development trends based on keyword-based quantitative methods, which usually predict trends by finding key technologies without showing how to develop them, our method allows the identification of future direction and industry goal for the technology domain and shows detailed paths for achieving them. Thus, our method has constructed technology roadmapping (TRM) with seven layers (material, technology, influencing factor, component, product, goal, and future direction) on the basis of subject–action–object analysis. The detailed paths for developing this as a trend can be shown by the interaction among these TRM elements. In addition, the method also sets three indicators as a discriminating standard to find key players that can support the trend by engaging technological innovation scenarios. The case of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is exemplified to illustrate the detailed procedure of our method. The results reveal the development trends in the field of DSSCs, the detailed paths to achieve them, and key countries that support them.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004016251500133X

Author(s): Xuefeng Wang, Pengjun Qiu, Donghua Zhu, Liliana Mitkova, Ming Lei, and Alan L. Porter
Organization(s): Beijing Institute of Technology, University Paris-Est Marne la Vallée, and Georgia Institute of Technology
Source: Technological Forecasting and Social Change
Year: 2015

Using the wayback machine to mine websites in the social sciences: A methodological resource

novel source, Research Examples, Research profiling

Websites offer an unobtrusive data source for developing and analyzing information about various types of social science phenomena. In this paper, we provide a methodological resource for social scientists looking to expand their toolkit using unstructured web-based text, and in particular, with the Wayback Machine, to access historical website data. After providing a literature review of existing research that uses the Wayback Machine, we put forward a step-by-step description of how the analyst can design a research project using archived websites. We draw on the example of a project that analyzes indicators of innovation activities and strategies in 300 U.S. small- and medium-sized enterprises in green goods industries. We present six steps to access historical Wayback website data: (a) sampling, (b) organizing and defining the boundaries of the web crawl, (c) crawling, (d) website variable operationalization, (e) integration with other data sources, and (f) analysis. Although our examples draw on specific types of firms in green goods industries, the method can be generalized to other areas of research. In discussing the limitations and benefits of using the Wayback Machine, we note that both machine and human effort are essential to developing a high-quality data set from archived web information.

FULL-TEXT http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/asi.23503/full

Author(s): Sanjay K. Arora, Yin Li, Jan Youtie, and Philip Shapira
Organization(s): Georgia Institute of Technology and University of Manchester
Source: Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology
Year: 2015

Green Energy Prospects: Trends and Challenges

Biz lit, Future-oriented technology analysis, novel source, Patents, Research Examples, Research Type, S&T lit, Strategic planning,

The transition of energy systems moving from non-renewable fossil-nuclear to renewable sources is a key challenge of climate mitigation and sustainable development. Green energy technologies can contribute to solutions of global problems such as climate change, growth of energy consumption, depletion of natural resources, negative environmental impacts, and energy security. In this article the prospective directions of technology development in green energy are studied and analyzed using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. Qualitative research involves participation of key experts in the field of green energy, while quantitative analysis includes collecting and processing data from different information sources (scientific publications, patents, news, Foresight projects, conferences, projects of international organizations, dissertations, and presentations) with a help of Vantage Point software. In addition, key challenges for green energy as well as its relationships with other technological and non-technological areas are identified and briefly described on the basis of expert and analytical results.

http://www.igi-global.com/article/green-energy-prospects/129675

Author(s): S. Filippov, N. Mikova, and A. Sokolova
Organization(s): Energy Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Higher School of Economics
Source: International Journal of Social Ecology and Sustainable Development (IJSESD)
Year: 2015

Research Productivity of Library Scholars: Bibliometric Analysis of Growth and Trends of LIS Publications

Research Examples, Research profiling

The purpose of this study is to explore, by a quantitative analysis, growth rates of, and trends in, global publications in the field of library and information science (LIS) produced by library science professionals.

Design/methodology/approach
A survey approach was used. JCR (Journal Citation Reports) 2010 was the major source for selecting 40 LIS core journals. A bibliometric analysis was conducted. Visualization and mapping software was utilized to present a picture of the growth in, and trends relating to LIS publications.

Findings
18,371 research articles were published from 2003 to 2012. A significant growth rate (11.37%) was found in 2009. Self-citation tendencies have been increasing, with an average rate of 38.56%. Of all publication types, “article” was the most popular among LIS researchers. China has contributed remarkably in terms of collaborative publications.

Practical implications
The present study could be helpful for library professionals, subject specialists and policy makers. These findings may encourage library professionals to integrate and monitor library functions through bibliometric analysis.

Originality/value
This paper identifies growth, trends in publications by LIS researchers through use of bibliometrics.

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/NLW-11-2014-0132

Author(s): Munazza Jabeen, Liu Yun, Muhammad Rafiq, and Misbah Jabeen
Organization(s): Beijing Institute of Technology, University of The Punjab, and Nanjing University
Source: New Library World
Year: 2015

Tech Mining to Generate Indicators of Future National Technological Competitiveness: Nano-enhanced Drug Delivery (NEDD) in the US and China

Future-oriented technology analysis, Research Examples, Research profiling, ST&I indicators,

“Global technological competitiveness” is widely acknowledged, but the challenge is to go beyond this recognition to develop empirical indicators of important transitions. These may concern particular technologies, the competitive position of particular organizations, or national/regional shifts. For decades, the US has been the world leader in biomedical technologies, with attendant implications for organizational priorities in terms of R&D location and market targeting. Recent years have seen a tremendous acceleration in Asian research in most domains, including biomedical, particularly visible in China. This paper investigates comparative patterns between the US and China in a promising emerging area of biotechnology — Nano-Enhanced Drug Delivery. It then explores indicators of, and implications for, future transitions at the national level — an approach we label “Forecasting Innovation Pathways.” http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162514000900 Highlights

  • Tech mining generates indicators for future national technological competitiveness.
  • The case is a promising emerging area of biotechnology — Nano-Enhanced Drug Delivery.
  • We investigate comparative patterns between the US and China.
  • Results can provide insight into the approach of “Forecasting Innovation Pathways.”

Author(s): Ying Guo, Xiao Zhou, Alan L. Porter, and Douglas K.R. Robinson Organization(s): Beijing Instititute of Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Université de Paris-Est Source: Technological Forecasting & Social Change Year: 2015

Collaborative Networks as a measure of the Innovation Systems in second-generation ethanol

Network analysis, Research Examples,

Ethanol obtained from the conversion process of different types of biomass is a renewable source of fuel and since 2010 it has been classified as an “advanced fuel” by the EPA, due to its contribution to the reduction of the impacts of GHG emissions. Recent literature stresses the importance of the use of second-generation fuels to reduce the impacts of the direct and indirect use of land, mostly on agricultural prices. Although these demands constitute a clear clue to R&D activities, there are an impressive number of alternatives, regarding different kinds of biomass, processes and byproducts, a complex matrix of technological opportunities and the demands that generates a clear incentive for collaboration. This paper uses both the Bibliometry and Scientometry approach and the Innovation System (IS) literature under the perspective of Social Networks Analysis (SNA) to build Collaborative Networks (CNs) to the second-generation ethanol (lignocellulosic) using ISI Web of Science database. The adopted procedure emerges once authors, countries and institutions related to bioenergy have incentives to share information in the process of creating a new role in partnership—a network point-of-view. The results show that the United States is in a better position than other countries, improving the role of the university in their IS while China proves to be a great ally of the United States regarding the production of technology to produce lignocellulosic ethanol. Brazil however, does not appear well placed in the network, despite being the second largest producer of first-generation ethanol in the world.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11192-015-1553-2?wt_mc=alerts.TOCjournals

Author(s): Luiz Gustavo Antonio de Souza, Márcia Azanha Ferraz Dias de Moraes, Maria Ester Soares Dal Poz, José Maria Ferreira Jardim da Silveira
Organization(s): University of Campinas and University of São Paulo
Source: Scientometrics
Year: 2015