Ministry of Science and Higher Education commissioned a research project to identify the applicability of bibliometric techniques to the innovation policy and research management in Poland. The study was intended to support the establishment of the new ministerial institution, the observatory of scientific research and technology developments. The researchers outlined the possible uses of bibliometrics – quantitative analysis of scientific publications and patents, alongside with practical proposals to use specific techniques in order to support the innovation policy in Poland. Selected findings were published by the Ministry as a guidebook for researchers and R&D managers, interested in using bibliometric techniques to identify technology developments or perform prior art analyses. The book was the first comprehensive manual, teaching Polish technology specialists how to apply bibliometrics in their own studies, and its electronic version is freely distributed online.

The book introduced a novel framework for applying bibliometrics to the realm of technology management, including a list of specific analytical questions: what? what exactly? who? where? when? with whom? with which organization? how many objects? how many authors? what was changed? what will be changed? how popular compared with? what are the niches? what are the new popular topics? related to what? how related? supplemented by what? which variants were not analyzed? supplemented by whom? who might supply? who might buy? who competes? who might compete? who might be an employee? who might be a successor? how important? who is important? linked to what knowledge? linked to whose research? The framework was linked to a specific methodology for conducting bibliometric analyses, with dedicated data collection and analysis techniques for each question, as well as suggestions of suitable databases and software tools depending on the analytical scenario selected by the analysts.

Researchers involved: Krzysztof Klincewicz, Michał Mijal, Marcin Żemigała