only briefly collaborated with someone
else from these categories. Researchers in computer systems organization,
computing methodologies, and information systems tended to stay active
in these categories for a longer time.
Moreover, we found it difficult for researchers to publish in artificial intelligence and programming language
year after year, unlike in, say, human-computer interaction. Researchers
in human-computer interaction remain active the longest, followed by
researchers in computer architecture;
see Hoonlor et al.9 for details.
Note while researchers can continue to publish in one area for a long
time, the area itself evolves and may
cover different topics during different
time periods; for example, human-computer interaction focused mainly
on interaction design, visual design,
and computer-supported cooperative
work in the 1990s and augmented reality, computer vision, human factors,
and ubiquitous computing in the early
2000s, finally shifting to social media,
learning, computer-mediated communication, and tangible user interface in
the late 2000s.
Investigating further, we selected four prominent CS researchers,
analyzed their publications, and discussed the results with them. Jack
Dongarra of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is renowned for developing high-performance linear algebra software packages and systems,
though his interests have evolved over
time. In the 1980s, for example, he
focused on parallel algorithms for linear equation routines and linear algebra subprograms. In the early 1990s,
he focused on parallel solutions for
eigenvalue problems and numerical
software libraries for high-performance systems. From the late 1990s
to the 2000s, he focused on high-performance linear algebra packages for
multicore systems. More recently, he
has also focused on performance of
grid computing. Overall, his research
interests have evolved continuously
in response to challenges created by
new computer technologies.
Another researcher in this area,
Francine Berman of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, characterized her work in 1980s as “top-down
mathematical modeling” of mapping
and scheduling problems. In the early
1990s, her papers used such keywords
as data-driven, performance, and algorithms. From the late 1990s to the mid-
2000s, she focused on grid computing
from a “bottom up” perspective: application-level scheduling/rescheduling,
job distribution, and performance. She
described this evolution as a broadening and branching approach. Since
2003, she has made a major shift to
large-scale cyberinfrastructure and
data preservation.g
In the early 1990s, George Cybenko
of Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH,
studied high-performance computing
and classification by neural networks.
In the late 1990s, he shifted to mobile
agents, mobile networks, and simulations. In the early 2000s, he focused on
target tracking, analyzing data, and extracting information from the Web and
from wireless networks. Since 2002, he
has investigated privacy and security
issues, including cybersecurity, saying he investigates each subject “in
five-year (more or less) phases” then
“discovers an open field often related
to previous work.” One exception was a
major shift in 1992 when moving from
one university to another.
g Cyberinfrastructure and data preservation
did not show up as her keywords because the
relevant publications were too new to be in
our databases.
figure 4. Landscape of cs research fields, based on conferences 1990–2010, for the acm and ieee datasets, including raw numbers
(frequencies) and percentage of publications for each keyword each year.
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2010
2009
of publications
9,000
8,000
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
Software Engineering
Security and Privacy
Programming
Languages
Operating Systems
Human Computer
Interaction
Education
Data Management
Computer Networking
Computing
0
Computer Graphics
Computer Architecture
Computational Biology
Artificial Intelligence
Algorithm and Theory
(a) ACM: Frequency
1991
1992
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2009
2008
2006
2004
2003
2007
2005
2010
1990
(b) ACM: Fraction
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
Software Engineering
Security and Privacy
Programming
Languages
Operating Systems
Human-Computer
Interaction
Education
Data Management
Computer Networking
Computer Graphics
Computer Architecture
Computational Biology
Artificial Intelligence
Algorithm and Theory
Computing
2008
2009
6,000
7,000
8,000
9,000
10,000
(d) IEEE: Fraction
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
2010
of publications
(c) IEEE: Frequency
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
1990
