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Abstract
We are facing a real challenge when coping with the continuous acceleration of scientific
production and the increasingly changing nature of science. In this article, we extend
the classical framework of co-word analysis to the study of scientific landscape evolution.
Capitalizing on formerly introduced science mapping methods with overlapping clustering,
we propose methods to reconstruct phylogenetic networks from successive science maps,
and give insight into the various dynamics of scientific domains. Two indexes - the
pseudo-inclusion and the empirical quality - are introduced to qualify scientific
fields and are used for reconstruction validation purpose. Phylogenetic dynamics appear
to be strongly correlated to these two indexes, and to a weaker extent, to a third
one previously introduced (density index). These results suggest that there exist
regular patterns in the "life cycle" of scientific fields. The reconstruction of science
phylogeny should improve our global understanding of science evolution and pave the
way toward the development of innovative tools for our daily interactions with its
productions. Over the long run, these methods should lead quantitative epistemology
up to the point to corroborate or falsify theoretical models of science evolution
based on large-scale phylogeny reconstruction from databases of scientific literature.