Vulnerability studies in the fields of transportation and complex networks: a citation network analysis

Abstract

AbstractIn recent years, studies on network vulnerability have grown rapidly in the fields of transportation and complex networks. Even though these two fields are closely related, their overall structure is still unclear. In this study, to add clarity comprehensively and objectively, we analyze a citation network consisting of vulnerability studies in these two fields. We collect publication records from an online publication database, the Web of Science, and construct a citation network where nodes and edges represent publications and citation relations, respectively. We analyze the giant weakly connected component consisting of 705 nodes and 4,584 edges. First, we uncover main research domains by detecting communities in the network. Second, we identify major research development over time in the detected communities by applying main path analysis. Third, we quantitatively reveal asymmetric citation patterns between the two fields, which implies that mutual understanding between them is still lacking. Since these two fields deal with the vulnerability of network systems in common, more active interdisciplinary studies should have a great potential to advance both fields in the future.