Thematic development: methodological contributions of bibliometry and scientometry to literature reviews

Abstract

Research on scientific knowledge, which has scientific research as the object of knowledge, can be carried out using methods and techniques specific to information science. Nevertheless, these methods and techniques receive criticism for being supposedly dichotomous, descriptive and operating for superficial understandings. We then ask ourselves: Would it be possible to propose a research design that addresses the construction of knowledge in which the description, understanding and context that drive this production are intertwined? What techniques and methods would be used? How could this research design operate based on research questions? Contributing to mitigate these shortcomings, this study's main goal: presents a research design proposal that makes it possible to gather the description, understanding and context for investigating scientific productions. With the other objectives: a) present and discuss the techniques / methods for this research design; b) explain the possibilities of using methods/techniques that are associated with the proposed research design. In the article, we bring together a series of methods and techniques, proposing a research design that comprises the scientific construction of knowledge as an agent of knowledge, which acts in a global network, which can be described, understood and analyzed under multiple perspectives by researchers and researchers. This research design presents, as its main advantages, a form of analysis with greater depth, through the use of free software exemplified in the body of the text, which informs us of the current state of the research field, helping us in the construction of new research questions.