Eponyms in scientific texts
Theoretical notes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36311/1981-1640.2022.v16.e02159Keywords:
Eponyms, Scientific recognition, Sociology of science, Bibliometrics, Obliteration by incorporationAbstract
Eponyms are linguistic phenomena present in scientific language in various fields of science. Aiming to contribute to new themes and objects of study in the field of Information Science, this article addresses theoretical and methodological aspects of eponymy in science and the relationship between eponyms and the analysis of citations in scientific texts. The methodology of critical review of the Sociology of Science and Information Science literature was adopted, through the analysis of classics from the literature of these two areas and of other studies on eponymy through data collection in the Portal de Periódicos Capes. The results pointed out the origin, function and limitations of eponyms in scientific texts, the controversies about their use in medical-scientific communication, the female underrepresentation in eponyms of various sciences, the relationship between eponyms and citations, and the occurrence of obliteration. by incorporation into eponymic texts. It was concluded that the study of eponyms contributes to broadening the understanding of scientific recognition in science, but that its presence in scientific texts is challenging for bibliometric studies due to the occurrence of the phenomenon of obliteration by incorporation and the difficulties related to its identification and extraction in scientific databases.
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