Understanding the Scholarly Communications of Computational Scientists
Michiko Tanaka
Palmer School of Library and Information Science, Long Island University, Brookville, NY 11548
Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973
Abstract
I explored the domain of the computational science group of a multi-disciplinary research laboratory,
applying bibliometric approaches to their publication patterns to delimit the domain’s boundaries,
characterize the group, detail their history, and confirm their interdisciplinary focus.
Computational science evolved through its 50 years’ existence in parallel with that of High
Performance Computing (HPC). This fast-moving, developing area founded upon collaborations and sharing
of ideas throughout the scientific community increasingly is becoming a vital part of research in almost all
fields of science.
Computational scientists necessarily are interdisciplinary; they must draw upon vast information
within their own field and their particular related scientific areas. Knowledge created by, and shared within
this interdisciplinary group must be disseminated widely to advance science and society. Therefore, studying
how computational scientists use the scientific literature, particularly their citation patterns within their own
field and that of others, contributes to the overall development of new knowledge. Although many
information scientists have discussed the benefits and barriers of interdisciplinary scientific research,
frequently using bibliometrics to reveal its nature, still we have a limited understanding of how
interdisciplinary scientists gather and use information.
With bibliometric methods, I qualified the boundaries of the domain, verified the
interdisciplinary characteristics of their communications, identified their strong mathematics and
physics background, and affirmed their focus on multidisciplinary scientific programs in their
institution. Furthermore, I related the affect on their research of the development of
supercomputers, the tools they use to solve complex, intricate problems, such as those listed as
the “Grand Challenge.” Extending this picture, I suggested that national and international events
might have contributed to defining their activities. Finally, I speculated how the work of
computational scientists may proliferate as worldwide problems become more challenging.
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