4. What are the advantages of bibliometric analysis?

Bibliometric analysis, with a view to producing elaborate, strategic information on a subject, is only useful if the question posed encompasses the subject itself and also its periphery. This means that the question posed must be relatively broad, so as to include not only the subject itself, but also the developments adjacent to it. The result is an analysis that covers not only the subject itself, but also all its implications. This is the best way to find new directions and unexpected correlations, and so encourage the development of innovation.

This approach also has one advantage: many specialists are unaware of the developments or ancillary uses of their research. Bibliometric analysis applied to large corpora encompassing the central subject provides a pertinent response to this state of affairs.