Presents a methodology for creating pathways through the scientific literature following strong cocitation links. A path is described starting in economics and ending in astrophysics, traversing 331 documents. Attention is given to where the path crosses disciplinary boundaries and how analogy can be used to model the thought processes involved in…

Based on coexistence frequency of pairs of words or phrases, coword analysis is used to discover linkages among subjects in a research field and thus to trace the development of science. This article reviews the development of coword analysis, summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of this method, and discusses several research issues.…

Addresses the problem of how to find interesting but previously unknown implicit information within the scientific literature. The use of software, called Arrowsmith, that can create suggestive juxtapositions of Medline records to help biomedical researchers detect new and useful relationships, is described. Contains 34 references. (Author/MES)

An example of semantic pattern analysis, based on keywords selected from documents grouped by bibliographical coupling, is used to demonstrate the methodological aspects of knowledge discovery in bibliographic databases. Frequency distribution patterns suggest the existence of a common intellectual base with a wide range of specialties and…