🔧 Tool Spotlight: BibExcel for Bibliometric Analysis

26 декабря 202526 дек 2025

1 мин

Wondering how to dive into the formal analysis of academic literature, citation networks, or author collaborations? The classic, free tool BibExcel is a powerful option designed specifically for this task. What is BibExcel? Created by Olle Persson, BibExcel is a toolbox that helps you analyze bibliographic data (like records from Web of Science) or any similarly formatted text data. Its core function is to process raw data and prepare it for import into Excel or other tabular programs for further analysis and visualization. What Can Linguists Do With It? While used across sciences, it's highly relevant for meta-research in linguistics. You can use it for: 📊 Citation Analysis & Bibliometrics: Study the impact and connections within a body of linguistic literature. 👥 Co-authorship & Collaboration Analysis: Map networks of researchers in sub-fields. 🔗 Co-citation Analysis & Bibliographic Coupling: Identify related papers, seminal works, and research fronts. 🗺️ Preparing Data f

What is BibExcel?

Created by Olle Persson, BibExcel is a toolbox that helps you analyze bibliographic data (like records from Web of Science) or any similarly formatted text data. Its core function is to process raw data and prepare it for import into Excel or other tabular programs for further analysis and visualization.

What Can Linguists Do With It?

While used across sciences, it's highly relevant for meta-research in linguistics.

You can use it for:

📊 Citation Analysis & Bibliometrics: Study the impact and connections within a body of linguistic literature.

👥 Co-authorship & Collaboration Analysis: Map networks of researchers in sub-fields.

🔗 Co-citation Analysis & Bibliographic Coupling: Identify related papers, seminal works, and research fronts.

🗺️ Preparing Data for Mapping: Generate files for network visualization tools like Pajek.

Key Practical Details

Cost & Use: It's freeware for academic, non-profit use.

Format: It primarily works with ISI/Web of Science records but can convert some other formats.

Process: It's not a single-click tool. You use different modules to clean, count, and structure data before final analysis in a spreadsheet or visualization software.

Getting Started & Learning

Download: The latest version and help files are available from the official page.

Learn: The page provides sample data and 16 step-by-step exercises (using co-citation studies) which are the best way to learn.

Explore: Check the linked "Festschrift" chapter and audiovisual courses for deeper understanding.

If you use it in your research, you have to cite the recommended paper by Persson et al.

🔗 Resources:

Download & Exercises: BibExcel Homepage

Recommended Citation: Persson, O., Danell, R., & Wiborg Schneider, J. (2009). How to use Bibexcel for various types of bibliometric analysis.