Random drift versus selection in academic vocabulary
R. Alexander Bentley · 2008
The evolution of vocabulary in academic pub-lishing is characterized via keyword frequen-cies recorded the ISI Web of Science citations database. In four distinct case-studies, evolu-tionary analysis of keyword frequency change through time is compared to a model of ran-dom copying used as the null hypothesis, such that selection may be identified against it. The case studies from the physical sciences indicate greater selection in keyword choice than in the social sciences. Similar evolutionary analyses can be applied to a wide range of phenom-ena; wherever the popularity of multiple items through time has been recorded, as with web searches, or sales of popular music and books, for example. 1