An Explication of HistCite^TM: Updates, Modifications, and a Variety of Applications

Abstract

This paper aims to introduce Histcite^TM, its modifications, and possible applications. Officially launched in 2007, Histcite^TM was a bibliometric analysis and visualization software package developed by Dr. Eugene Garfield and his colleagues in 2001. The upgraded versions, Histcite^TM pro 2.0 and 2.1, modified the way to open the software and automatically read the raw data of the Web of Science. Pre-processing methods offered practical solutions for problems of insufficient data via possible applications with various software features. While utilizing the HistCite^TM algorithm, the main-path analysis may serve to highlight the structural backbone used in developing an emerging scientific field through a series of identifiable citation networks. Although HistCite^TM has ceased updating, it remains a promising tool for researchers wishing to perform bibliometric analysis through technical refinement and enhancements.

Keywords:

• Citation networks
• HistCite^TM
• Histcite Pro 2.0
• Histcite Pro 2.1
• historiography
• main path analysis
• unknown information

Acknowledgement

The authors sincerely thank the reviewers for their helpful suggestions useful to improve this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 http://www.garfield.library.upenn.edu/histcomp/index.html

2 Histcite Pro 2.0, which can be downloaded at http://pan.baidu.com/s/1ge4BvrX

3 https://www.quora.com/profile/Tsing-1

4 HistCite Pro 2.1, which can be downloaded at https://pan.baidu.com/s/1hslwJzQ

5 Manual for user, which can be downloaded at https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/20902898

6 Web of Science Core Collection Help https://images.webofknowledge.com/images/help/WOS/hs_wos_fieldtags.html

7 Scop2WoS, http://www.leydesdorff.net/software/scop2wos (revised and updated on November 5, 2015)

8 Scopus2Histcite, which can be downloaded at https://github.com/leoatchina/Scopus2Histcite; https://github.com/leoatchina/Scopus2Histcite/archive/master.zip

Additional information

Funding

This research received a grant from the funding agency in Jiangxi Province Higher Education Teaching Reform Research in 2019 [Grant Number: JXJG-19-9-17] and Jiangxi Province Ji’an City Social Science Research Project in 2021 “An Action Research of Early Childhood Majors’ Kamishibai Storytime” [Grant Number: 21GHC400]. “Analysis of Promoting Children's Reading activities at Kaohsiung City Library in Taiwan” [Grant Number: JR1902].