Visualization is always finer than text in terms of a better understanding of a large data set. Bibliographic data visualization is a hot topic in scientometrics studies. Many science mapping software packages [1] provide visualization of entities and networks of bibliographic data. Apart from that, the timeline is another effective aspect for visualizing the evolution of publications.
In this article, an easy process of creating a timeline of bibliographic data using Zotero [2] has been shown.
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| Fig.1 |
This is a sample screenshot of a collection in Zotero. We will be creating a timeline for it. The steps are as follow:
# 1 Creating a timeline
First, we will click on the Tools then create timeline.
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| Fig.2 |
# 2 Operating the new window
After clicking the Create timeline, a new window will pop up.
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| Fig.3 |
This is where we can create visualizations.
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| Fig.4 |
In Fig.4, we can see multiple input bars that can be used for filtering and highlighting the bibliographic data. We can filter by month, year, and decade. It will show the filtered data. In the next step, we will filter and highlight by keywords.
# 3 Highlighting data by colours
We can enter keywords to highlight papers.
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| Fig.5 |
After entering keywords (1), we will be able to see the highlighted parts (3) that are associated with the entered keywords along with year or decade (2). Now we can navigate right-left by dragging the pointer (Fig.6).
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| Fig.6 |
Less darker part is the framed part which indicates the year of publication. In addition, it will display the papers belonging to the year. Here, papers during the period of 2010-2020 are navigated. The following video will make it sense.
We can directly highlight the specific year too.
# 4 Printing the timeline
Now, we also can print the timeline.
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| Fig.7 |
We need to click on the Edit then print the timeline (selected years).
This is the PDF file of the timeline (after printing)
This is how we can visualize and print the bibliographic data in Zotero reference management software.
References
[1] https://liu.cwp.libguides.com/c.php?g=225325&p=4966525
[2] https://www.zotero.org/
[Note: This article is only for educational purposes]