Historical growth of concept networks in Wikipedia

Abstract

Philosophers of science have long questioned how collective scientific knowledge grows. Although disparate answers have been posited, empirical validation has been challenging due to limitations in collecting and systematizing large historical records. Here, we introduce new methods to analyze scientific knowledge formulated as a growing network of articles on Wikipedia and their hyperlinks. We demonstrate that in Wikipedia, concept networks in subdisciplines of science do not grow by expanding from their central core to reach an ancillary periphery. Instead, science concept networks in Wikipedia grow by creating and filling knowledge gaps. Notably, the process of gap formation and closure may be valued by the scientific community, as evidenced by the fact that it produces discoveries that are more frequently awarded Nobel prizes than other processes. To determine whether and how the gap process is interrupted by paradigm shifts, we operationalize a paradigm as a particular subdivision of scientific concepts into network modules. Hence, paradigm shifts are reconfigurations of those modules. The approach allows us to identify a temporal signature in structural stability across scientific subjects in Wikipedia. In a network formulation of scientific discovery, our findings suggest that data-driven conditions underlying scientific breakthroughs depend as much on exploring uncharted gaps as on exploiting existing disciplines and support policies that encourage new interdisciplinary research.