title: Bibliometrics for Social Validation.
abstract: This paper introduces a bibliometric, citation network-based method for assessing the social validation of novel research, and applies this method to the development of high-throughput toxicology research at the US Environmental Protection Agency. Social validation refers to the acceptance of novel research methods by a relevant scientific community; it is formally independent of the technical validation of methods, and is frequently studied in history, philosophy, and social studies of science using qualitative methods. The quantitative methods introduced here find that high-throughput toxicology methods are spread throughout a large and well-connected research community, which suggests high social validation. Further assessment of social validation involving mixed qualitative and quantitative methods are discussed in the conclusion.
authors.affiliation: Rotman Institute of Philosophy, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.|American Association for the Advancement of Science, Hosted in Office of Research and Development, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7945-4416
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hicks
mesh_terms: D015706:Bibliometrics; D006801:Humans; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards*; D012942:Social Sciences; D012944:Social Support