Substance-Based Bibliometrics: Identifying Research Gaps by Counting and Analyzing Substances

Area of Science:

• Bibliometrics
• Chemical Informatics
• Drug Discovery

Background:

• Identifying research gaps is crucial for scientific writing and grant proposals.
• Substance-based bibliometrics offers a novel approach to assess chemical information.
• Linking chemical substances to bioactivity can reveal insights for drug design.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the use of substance-based bibliometrics for identifying research gaps.
• To develop strategies for discovering new research ideas in the chemical sciences.
• To assess the relevance of chemical substances in biochemical, biological, and medicinal contexts.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing Chemical Abstracts via the SciFinder database for substance occurrence counts.
• Implementing search strategies to identify potential research gaps.
• Visualizing chemical structures alongside known bioactivity and target indicators.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated a method for quantifying substance prevalence in scientific literature.
• Identified potential avenues for research gap discovery through bibliometric analysis.
• Provided a framework for linking chemical structures to their biological relevance.

Conclusions:

• Substance-based bibliometrics is a valuable tool for understanding the chemical literature landscape.
• This approach can stimulate innovation in drug design and discovery.
• Subject librarians should incorporate research gap identification training into chemistry curricula.