From Subject Classification System To Topic Classification System:Analysis Of InCites Citation Topics Classification System

Interdisciplinary and integration has become an important mode of scientific and technological innovation currently.The traditional discipline classification system has increased the difficulty of multi-disciplinary cross-integration and inhibits the development of emerging fields,which was due to the disadvantages of high discipline barriers,large classification granularity,and poor update frequency.It is imperative to break the institutional and mechanism barriers of the traditional subject classification system and build a new classification system.The new InCites Citation Topics appeared in 2020,which has jumped out of the rut of journal classification,and it is a new classification system divided by the topics of a single paper.Different from the journal-based classification traditionally used in Web of Science,the new Citation Topics reflects the division based on citation relationships and categorizes individual papers.In order to compare the differences between the two classification systems,this paper based on the literature data in the core collection of Web of Science in 2020,and constructs the subject distribution network of Web of Science journal classification system that under the Citation Topics.And the subject co-occurrence network under the macro、meso and micro three-level-topics in Citation Topics,exploring the internal connection and differences between the two classification systems,digging the practical significance of the topic classification system for the intersection and integration of disciplines.Through the research on the topics classification system of Citation Topics,especially the comparative study with the journal classification system,Citation Topics classification system can be aggregated into four categories which are "Life and Earth Sciences","Medicine and Health Sciences","Humanities and Social Sciences","Natural Science and Engineering",meanwhile it also show the distribution structure and advantages of the topic classification system.It includes four specific advantages : Firstly,it breaks the boundaries of disciplines,provides scholars with interdisciplinary academic references in subject retrieval,promotes the intersection and integration of disciplines,and provides a certain reference for the development of interdisciplinary subjects in China.Secondly,quickly capture hot areas to help scholars understand the real-time hot topics emerging in different fields,and obtain the first-time academic frontier information,development trends and trends from different dimensions according to needs.Thirdly,it highlights the internal relationship between topics,assists scholars to carry out cross-field cooperation from specific issues,and explores emerging fields.Finally,inspires scholars to generate new thinking paths,to think from different perspectives,and to break through the traditional journal disciplines,and the annual cluster update of Citation Topics makes it easier to keep pace with the times and adapt to changes in the academic environment.Compared with the traditional journal-based classification system,the Citation Topics classification system makes up for the inherent shortcomings of the traditional subject distribution system,fully realizes the cross-integration between disciplines,reflects good interdisciplinarity,and the distribution of documents is more uniform,and it keeps pace with the times,strengthens the collaboration of scholars in different disciplines,be conducive to the interdisciplinary development of the academic system,promotes innovation.And it has great significance and value to eliminates the dependence on the journal classification system in scientometrics,realize the transformation of the journal classification system to the topic classification system,and promote interdisciplinary development and innovative research.