Full and fractional counting in bibliometric networks

In their study entitled “Constructing bibliometric networks: A comparison between full and fractional counting,” Perianes-Rodriguez, Waltman, & van Eck (2016; henceforth abbreviated as PWvE) provide arguments for the use of fractional counting at the network level as different from the level of publications. While the latter attribution divides the credit among co-authors (countries, institutions, etc.), fractional counting at the network level can normalize the relative weights of links and thereby—depending on the research question—clarify the structures in the network. However, PWvE propose a counting scheme for fractional counting that is one among other possible ones. PWvE discuss the alternative schemes proposed by Batagelj and Cerinšek (2013) and Park, Yoon, & Leydesdorff (2016; henceforth abbreviated as PYL) in an appendix.