Bibliometry is a science that uses statistical and mathematical procedures in any literature that is related to scientific topics, and also to the writers who produce it. This is done in order to analyze scientific performance. For this, it has the help of bibliometric laws, which are based on regular statistical behavior, which over time has manifested the various elements that constitute science. The mechanisms used to evaluate the aspects of this phenomenon are the so-called bibliometric indicators, an evaluation that provides information on the results of scientific activity in any of its expressions.
It is suggested that the first bibliometric study was prepared by Cole and Eales. In this study, a statistical analysis was carried out of the books or editions on comparative anatomy between the years 1550 and 1860, according to their delivery by country and the divisions of the animal kingdom. After this, in 1923 E. Hulme, who was a librarian for the British Patent Office, carried out a statistical study of the history of science, establishing a first advance to what in the future would be called Scientology.
Bibliometric studies are frequently classified according to data sources, which are based on: bibliographies and abstracts, references or citations, directories or general catalogs of journal titles.
Bibliometrics is normally applied in: the choice of texts and periodicals, in the identification of thematic aspects of literature; in the history of science, evaluation of bibliographies, identification of the most productive countries, organisms or writers in a specific time.
Some of the bibliometric laws are:
The exponential growth law, its statement is as follows: “Science grows at compound interest, multiplying by a certain amount in equal periods of time (every 10-15 years it multiplies itself by 2). The growth rate is proportional to the size of the population or the total magnitude acquired. The bigger the science, the faster it grows ”.
This entire statement corresponds to the following mathematical expression:
Original text
N = N0 ebt
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Law of the productivity of the authors, this law shows that the work / author relationship follows a persistent conduct in certain eventualities. This law considers that starting from a number of writers with a single job on a specific topic, there is the possibility of predicting the number of writers with jobs. Its formula is:
A (n) = K / n2
Law of Dispersion of Scientific Literature, this law shows that in the elaboration of articles in magazines there is an inequality in distribution, where mostly the articles are concentrated in a small population of magazines, while a minuscule amount of writings are scattered over a number of items. Its formula is:
