2016/01/19 by Stephen J. Bensman, Bensman, Stephen J., Lawrence Smolinsky +2
Computer Science · Decision Sciences · #Complex Systems and Decision Making #Digital Libraries (cs.DL) #FOS: Computer and information sciences #cs.DL
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1601.04950
12 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables
arxiv created 2016/01/19 · openalex publication_date 2016/01/19 · arxiv updated 2016/01/20 · openalex created_date 2022/10/04 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
This brief communication analyzes the statistics and methods Lotka used to derive his inverse square law of scientific productivity from the standpoint of modern theory. It finds that he violated the norms of this theory by extremely truncating his data on the right. It also proves that Lotka himself played an important role in establishing the commonly used method of identifying power-law behavior by the R2 fit to a regression line on a log-log plot that modern theory considers unreliable by basing the derivation of his law on this very method.