<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<sec><h3>Purpose</h3>
<p>Using the metaphor of “unicorn,” we identify the scientific papers and technical patents characterized by the informetric feature of very high citations in the first ten years after publishing, which may provide a new pattern to understand very high impact works in science and technology.</p>
</sec>
<sec><h3>Design/methodology/approach</h3>
<p>When we set C<sub>T</sub> as the total citations of papers or patents in the first ten years after publication, with C<sub>T</sub>≥ 5,000 for scientific “unicorn” and C<sub>T</sub>≥ 500 for technical “unicorn,” we have an absolute standard for identifying scientific and technical “unicorn” publications.</p>
</sec>
<sec><h3>Findings</h3>
<p>We identify 165 scientific “unicorns” in 14,301,875 WoS papers and 224 technical “unicorns” in 13,728,950 DII patents during 2001–2012. About 50% of “unicorns” belong to biomedicine, in which selected cases are individually discussed. The rare “unicorns” increase following linear model, the fitting data show 95% confidence with the RMSE of scientific “unicorn” is 0.2127 while the RMSE of technical “unicorn” is 0.0923.</p>
</sec>
<sec><h3>Research limitations</h3>
<p>A “unicorn” is a pure quantitative consideration without concerning its quality, and “potential unicorns” as C<sub>T</sub>≤5,000 for papers and C<sub>T</sub>≤500 for patents are left in future studies.</p>
</sec>
<sec><h3>Practical implications</h3>
<p>Scientific and technical “unicorns” provide a new pattern to understand high-impact works in science and technology. The “unicorn” pattern supplies a concise approach to identify very high-impact scientific papers and technical patents.</p>
</sec>
<sec><h3>Originality/value</h3>
<p>The “unicorn” pattern supplies a concise approach to identify very high impact scientific papers and technical patents.</p>
</sec>
</abstract>

Purpose
Using the metaphor of “unicorn,” we identify the scientific papers and technical patents characterized by the informetric feature of very high citations in the first ten years after publishing, which may provide a new pattern to understand very high impact works in science and technology.

Design/methodology/approach
When we set CT as the total citations of papers or patents in the first ten years after publication, with CT≥ 5,000 for scientific “unicorn” and CT≥ 500 for technical “unicorn,” we have an absolute standard for identifying scientific and technical “unicorn” publications.

Findings
We identify 165 scientific “unicorns” in 14,301,875 WoS papers and 224 technical “unicorns” in 13,728,950 DII patents during 2001–2012. About 50% of “unicorns” belong to biomedicine, in which selected cases are individually discussed. The rare “unicorns” increase following linear model, the fitting data show 95% confidence with the RMSE of scientific “unicorn” is 0.2127 while the RMSE of technical “unicorn” is 0.0923.

Research limitations
A “unicorn” is a pure quantitative consideration without concerning its quality, and “potential unicorns” as CT≤5,000 for papers and CT≤500 for patents are left in future studies.

Practical implications
Scientific and technical “unicorns” provide a new pattern to understand high-impact works in science and technology. The “unicorn” pattern supplies a concise approach to identify very high-impact scientific papers and technical patents.

Originality/value
The “unicorn” pattern supplies a concise approach to identify very high impact scientific papers and technical patents.

Identifying Scientific and Technical “Unicorns”

Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Data Engineering and Knowledge Service

Journal of Data and Information Science

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"Identifying Scientific and Technical \u201cUnicorns\u201d"}

Purpose
Using the metaphor of “unicorn,” we identify the scientific papers and technical patents characterized by the informetric feature of very high...

Identifying Scientific and Technical “Unicorns”

Article Category: Research Paper

Published Online: Sep 22, 2020

Page range: 96 - 115

Received: Mar 01, 2020

Accepted: Jul 24, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jdis-2021-0002

Keywords
Unicorn, Scientific paper, Technical patent, Citation analysis, Patent analysis

© 2021 Lucy L. Xu et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Identifying Scientific and Technical “Unicorns”

Article Category: Research Paper

Published Online: Sep 22, 2020

Page range: 96 - 115

Received: Mar 01, 2020

Accepted: Jul 24, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jdis-2021-0002

KeywordsUnicorn, Scientific paper, Technical patent, Citation analysis, Patent analysis

© 2021 Lucy L. Xu et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Unicorn, Scientific paper, Technical patent, Citation analysis, Patent analysis