ABSTRACT
Since its origin, scientometrics has been identified closely with the study of science. Chiefly owing to the development of raw data required for the study of science, the application of scientometrics is attractive. Social scientists, the key researchers in this project whose focus was on the production of science, have gradually turned towards the humanities and social sciences (HSS). The applications of scientometrics to the study of science were soon found to be beneficial also to the study of the HSS. The potential for the study of the HSS was apparent with the arrival of databases dedicated to the arts and the HSS. But studying the HSS was not free from problems. Distinguished from science, the HSS had their own characteristic features and publication practices which are related to the heterogeneous character of the disciplines within the HSS. Varying publication practices across disciplines, the increased importance of books and monographs, the lack of comprehensive data sources, and the coverage of data in major databases posed challenges. Fraught with these challenges, scientometric studies in the HSS were not popular in the early years of scientometrics. As scientometrics advanced in its coverage, foci and applications, the HSS became a beneficiary. Challenges faced by the HSS were to be overcome by appropriate initiatives. This chapter deals with such challenges and explains how to address them to create a future for scientometric studies in the HSS.
