Trends and Impact in Visualization Research
This report explores key trends in visualization research, examining publication patterns, author contributions, and the characteristics of impactful work. It highlights how different publication types contribute to the field and analyzes citation behaviors, offering insights into the evolving landscape of academic influence and research practices.
Understanding the landscape of academic output begins with examining how publications are distributed across different venues and who the most influential contributors are. This section explores the growth of research output in major conferences, identifies leading authors, and assesses the impact of various publication formats.
The Publication Count for Conferences shows distinct trends over Publication Year, with Vis consistently having the highest number of publications and demonstrating a general upward trend, particularly from approximately 2006 onwards. InfoVis and VAST exhibit more fluctuating publication counts, with VAST showing a notable increase in publications in recent years, while SciVis generally maintains a lower publication count compared to the other conferences.
Among the top 10 Authors by Publications, Kwan-Liu Ma has the highest number of publications, also exhibiting a high Median Citations count. While Daniel A. Keim and Hanspeter Pfister have fewer publications than the top author, their works show higher median citation counts, indicating a strong impact within the field. The authors with the lowest publication counts among this top 10 group, such as Cláudio T. Silva and Daniel Weiskopf, still maintain a notable presence in terms of publication volume and exhibit varying median citation levels.
Among the Paper Type categories, Journal publications exhibit the highest Publication Count and also lead in Avg Downloads. Conference papers have a substantial publication count, though their average downloads are lower than journals, while Miscellaneous paper types represent the smallest count and lowest average downloads.
Building on the overview of publication trends, this section delves into the nuances of citation behavior and the characteristics that define research impact. It investigates the consistency of citation counts across different sources and explores how referencing practices have evolved, particularly in award-winning research.
The relationship between CrossRef Citations and Aminer Citations differs based on Graphics Replicability. For publications where graphics are Not Replicable, there is a broad distribution of citation counts, with a general positive correlation between the two citation sources, although many publications have low citation counts from both sources. In contrast, publications with Replicable graphics show a limited number of data points, indicating fewer such publications, and these tend to have lower Aminer Citations and CrossRef Citations compared to the higher-cited non-replicable graphics.
The Avg Pubs Cited by papers has generally increased over Year for both Award Status categories, indicating a trend towards more extensive referencing in research. While Award-Winning papers consistently cite more publications than those with No Award for most years, the gap between the two categories has narrowed in recent years, with the average number of citations for non-award-winning papers occasionally surpassing award-winning ones in the latest period.
The analysis reveals a growing trend in visualization research publications, particularly within the Vis conference, alongside the sustained influence of key authors whose work consistently garners high citations. Different publication types show varying levels of engagement, with journals leading in downloads. Furthermore, citation patterns indicate a general increase in referencing over time, suggesting a deepening interconnectedness within the research landscape. These insights collectively highlight the dynamic nature of academic contribution and impact within the field of visualization.