Citation analysis

and analyzed using existing visualization techniques. Our results address information inform atio es to ortan eriod 2006). ‘‘If we define a research front as the state of the art of a specialty (i.e., a line of research), what is cited by the research front forms its intellectual base’ ’ (Chen, 2006, p. 360). Previous literature of a discipline cited in its current publications (i.e., its intellectual base) can inform us about current research fronts. It is through references to sources that authors make con-nections between concepts (Small, 1981). Collectively, such connections create a ‘‘representation of the cognitive structure o