A Bibliometric Analysis of the Intelligent Transportation Systems Research Based on Science Mapping

In this paper, we highlight the conceptual structure of the intelligent transportation systems (ITS) research field in the period 1992-2011. To do that, an automatic approach for detecting and visualizing hidden themes and their evolution across a consecutive span of years is applied. This automatic approach, which is based on co-word analysis, combines performance analysis and science mapping. To show the conceptual evolution of ITS, three consecutive periods have been defined, i.e., 1992-2001, 2002-2006, and 2007-2011. We have identified that the ITS research has been focused on six main thematic areas, i.e., VEHICLE-AND-ROAD-TRACKING, DRIVER-BEHAVIOR-AND-SAFETY, SCENARIOS-SIMULATION, TRAFFIC-FLOW-AND-TRAFFIC-MANAGEMENT, VEHICLE-CONTROL, and VEHICLE-NAVIGATION.