Random drift versus selection in academic vocabulary: an evolutionary analysis of published keywords.

PloS One
R Alexander Bentley

Abstract

The evolution of vocabulary in academic publishing is characterized via keyword frequencies recorded in the ISI Web of Science citations database. In four distinct case-studies, evolutionary analysis of keyword frequency change through time is compared to a model of random copying used as the null hypothesis, such that selection may be identified against it. The case studies from the physical sciences indicate greater selection in keyword choice than in the social sciences. Similar evolutionary analyses can be applied to a wide range of phenomena; wherever the popularity of multiple items through time has been recorded, as with web searches, or sales of popular music and books, for example.

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Citations

Feb 1, 2014·Nucleic Acids Research·Mingzhou SongLaura Buttitta
Mar 25, 2011·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·R Alexander BentleyStephen Shennan
Mar 14, 2012·PloS One·Alberto AcerbiMagnus Enquist
Jun 13, 2015·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Paolo BaruccaFederico Ricci-Tersenghi
Nov 13, 2012·PloS One·R Alexander BentleyWilliam A Brock
Jan 13, 2015·Theoretical Population Biology·Elliot Aguilar, Stefano Ghirlanda
Nov 29, 2017·History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences·Sylvain Billiard, Alexandra Alvergne
Mar 26, 2013·PloS One·Alberto AcerbiR Alexander Bentley
Jan 22, 2020·Nature Human Behaviour·Ben LambertArmand M Leroi
May 13, 2020·Nature Human Behaviour·Armand M LeroiGiorgos D Kokkoris
Mar 23, 2019·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Mark PagelAndreea Calude
Jul 10, 2021·Nature Human Behaviour·Armand M LeroiGiorgos D Kokkoris

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