基于文献计量的区域差异研究现状与趋势分析

A Bibliometric Analysis on Status and Trend of Regional Inequality Research

以SCIE/SSCI数据库为基础,对1990年~2012年研究区域差异的国际论文进行科技文献计量分析,阐释国际区域差异领域的研究成果概况,揭示该领域的主要研究力量,发现不同作者、不同国家之间的合作情况,总结主要研究国家的研究差异并分析该领域主要研究趋势和未来研究热点。通过分析发现:哈佛大学、加利福尼亚大学洛杉矶分校及伦敦热带和医学学院为该领域有突出贡献的主要研究机构。美国是在该领域研究成果数量和质量居首位的国家,中国发表文献数量不多,且文献质量有待提高,但海外华人学者对于亚洲和中国问题的研究使得其在该研究领域具有重要地位。区域差异研究国际合作在绝对数量和国家分布范围均呈明显增长和扩大趋势。国际区域差异的研究区域主要集中在国土面积较大的国家或区域,尤其是发展中国家及地区。研究内容重点由经济差异转向经济与社会差异并重,但不同研究区域又有所差别。经济学分析方法和地理学方法的融合,特别是地理空间分析技术和方法在解决空间复杂现象和机制中的作用凸显。全球化、教育、公共卫生与健康将会是未来区域差异研究的热点方向。

Ba sed on the SCIE (Science Citation Index Expanded) and SSCI (Social Science Citation Index) databases, a bibliometric analysis is conducted on the literature of regional inequality during 1990-2012. The study is to identify the status and trend of this hot topic across disciplines. Bibliometrics is em-ployed in this paper to analyze the publication pattern of regional inequality research. As a research method used in library and information sciences, bib-liometrics has been widely applied to analyze the pattern of literature and trend of a given topic or subject. It can be used for in-depth reviews of re-search themes for better guidance for follow-up studies. Based on 3528 publica-tions indexed in the SCIE/SSCI databases during 1990-2012, the study reveals that Harvard university and University of California Los Angeles are major re-search institutions in this area. USA ranks as the top country in the publica-tions of this topic both qualitatively and quantitatively. China's publications on regional inequality research lag far behind that of USA and UK, and the quality should be improved. The world interests on Asia and China make the o-verseas Chinese scholars an important role in this research field. Regional in-equality research has witnessed a growing trend by paper number and collabora-tion across countries. However, because of the locality of the study area, there is no global collaboration-pattern in regional inequality research. China has been the hot area for nearly 20 years, and the research focus are health, income inequality and the social economic factors. Brazil and Latin America will be the hot spots around the world in regional inequality research. Educa-tion, globalization and public health appear to be the hot topics. The research area mainly concentrates on large size countries or regions, particularly de-veloping countries and regions. Research focus shifted from economic inequality to both economic and social inequality, but also vary according to various study areas. The method of research tends to integrate various analytical means,focusing on merging economic analysis method with geographical method. Particularly, geo-spatial analysis technology and methods is increasingly im-portant in solving complex spatial phenomena and mechanism.