Historical growth of concept networks in Wikipedia
Abstract
Philosophers of science have long questioned how collective scientific knowledge grows. Although disparate answers have been posited, empirical validation has been challenging due to limitations in collecting and systematizing large historical records. Here, we introduce new methods to analyze scientific knowledge formulated as a growing network of articles on Wikipedia and their hyperlinks. We demonstrate that in Wikipedia, concept networks in subdisciplines of science do not grow by expanding from their central core to reach an ancillary periphery. Instead, science concept networks in Wikipedia grow by creating and filling knowledge gaps. Notably, the process of gap formation and closure may be valued by the scientific community, as evidenced by the fact that it produces discoveries that are more frequently awarded Nobel prizes than other processes. To determine whether and how the gap process is interrupted by paradigm shifts, we operationalize a paradigm as a particular subdivision of scientific concepts into network modules. Hence, paradigm shifts are reconfigurations of those modules. The approach allows us to identify a temporal signature in structural stability across scientific subjects in Wikipedia. In a network formulation of scientific discovery, our findings suggest that data-driven conditions underlying scientific breakthroughs depend as much on exploring uncharted gaps as on exploiting existing disciplines and support policies that encourage new interdisciplinary research.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2022
- Source ID
- 10.1177/26339137221109839
Entities
People
- Ann S. Blevins
- Dale Zhou
- Danielle Bassett
- David M. Lydon-staley
- Harang Ju
- Judith Kaplan
- Julio R Tuma
Organizations
- Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
- Army Research Office
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
- Institute for Scientific Interchange
- John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
- National Institute of Mental Health
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
- National Institute on Drug Abuse
- National Science Foundation
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Army Research Laboratory
- University of Pennsylvania