Islands in the Stream: Mapping the Fisheries & Aquatic Sciences Literatures

Two types of citation relationships among journals in fisheries and aquatic sciences research were studied to identify a core journal network and to explore within-field journal prominence, overall subject structure, and communication links in this multidisciplinary area.

Abstract

Two types of citation relationships among journals in fisheries and aquatic sciences research were studied to identify a core journal network and to explore within-field journal prominence, overall subject structure, and communication links in this multidisciplinary area. A core list of 43 journals was extracted from the 1991 Journal Citation Reports for Science Citation Index based on the patterns of citations made from one journal to another. Cocitation data—counts of the number of recent papers citing any pair of the 43 journals—were retrieved from the SCISEARCH database on Dialog and analyzed using cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling (MDS). Eight major journal clusters were identified—fisheries (2 clusters), geophysics, oceanography, phycology, freshwater biology, the marine environment, and marine biology. In a two-dimensional MDS map, the journal clusters are arranged along a subject continuum from the physical sciences (geophysics) through basic natural sciences research (marine biology) to application (fisheries). Fisheries research is distinct from marine and freshwater biology and oceanography but not isolated. The Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences appears to be the major link between fisheries research and marine biology.