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Networks of knowledge: The distributed nature of medical innovation

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Abstract

Innovation in medicine is a complex process that unfolds unevenly in time and space. It is characterised by radical uncertainty and emerges from innovation systems that can hardly be comprehended within geographical, technological or institutional boundaries. These systems are instead highly distributed across countries, competences and organisations. This paper explores the nature, rate and direction of the growth and transformation of medical knowledge in two specific areas of research, interventional cardiology and glaucoma. We analyse two large datasets of bibliometric information extracted from ISI and adopt an empirical network approach to try to uncover the fine structure of the relevant micro-innovation systems and the mechanisms through which these evolve along trajectories of change shaped by the search for solutions to interdependent problems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ESRC Centre for Research on Innovation and Competition, The University of Manchester, Harold Hankins Building, Booth Street west, M13 9QH, Manchester, UK

    Ronnie Ramlogan, Andrea Mina, Gindo Tampubolon & J. Stanley Metcalfe

Authors
  1. Ronnie Ramlogan
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  2. Andrea Mina
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  3. Gindo Tampubolon
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  4. J. Stanley Metcalfe
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Correspondence to Andrea Mina.

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Ramlogan, R., Mina, A., Tampubolon, G. et al. Networks of knowledge: The distributed nature of medical innovation. Scientometrics 70, 459–489 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-007-0212-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-007-0212-7

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