Chapter 7 [...] concludes the book with three more case studies on the theme of visualizing the dynamics of scientific frontiers. In contrast to Chapter 6, the case studies in this chapter emphasize the role of citation networks in revealing less frequently cited works. The goal is to foster further research in discovering paradigms in the making. Challenges to the mapping of scientific frontiers as a whole are presented.

Conventional citation analysis typically focuses on distinctive members of a specialty - the cream of the crop. Landscape visualizations naturally emphasize the peaks rather than the valleys. Such practices remind us of either the Matthew Effect or the winner-takes-it-all phenomenon. However, scientific frontiers are constantly changing. We cannot simply ignore the 'root” of the crop or the valleys of an intellectual landscape. Today´s valleys may become tomorrow´s peaks.