Work

Categorization of scientometric data in a Benfordian context

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This article aims to improve our understanding of scientometric data in a Benfordian context. Recently, Benford’s law has been used to detect scientific fraud. However, we need to better understand its application to scientometric data. Through the implementation of Benford’s law and the generalized Benford’s law, we propose a categorization of science products and metrics. To this end, we have performed chi-square, MAD, and Max tests on data sets from WoS and Scopus as well as on historical data. This enables us to better understand the behavior and characteristics of these objects in a Benfordian context, and invites us to discuss the nature of bibliometric indicators in this particular context.

Source: Quantitative Science Studies

DOI: 10.1162/qss_a_00361

Authors: Marc Bertin, Thierry Lafouge

Institutions: Lyon 1 Université, Equipe de recherche de Lyon en Sciences de l'Information et de la Communication

Language: English

Topic: Benford’s Law and Fraud Detection

Subfield: Statistics and Probability

Field: Mathematics

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $800

Funder: Agence Nationale de la Recherche