Biblium : a Python library for comparative bibliometric analysis

Umek, Lan (author)

This paper presents Biblium, a Python library for bibliometric and scientometric analysis that introduces a formal framework for comparative group analysis—a capability largely absent from existing bibliometric software. The library’s primary methodological contribution is the BiblioGroup framework, which enables researchers to (1) organize bibliographic datasets into user-defined, potentially overlapping subgroups, (2) perform association testing with standardized residuals to quantify how bibliometric entities distinguish between groups, (3) apply correspondence analysis for dimensionality reduction of group–entity relationships, and (4) classify documents into groups using multiple machine learning algorithms. These capabilities address a fundamental analytical question in comparative scientometrics: what statistically distinguishes one subset of publications from another? Biblium also provides a comprehensive analytical environment supporting six major bibliographic databases (Scopus, Web of Science, OpenAlex, PubMed, Dimensions, Lens. org), descriptive bibliometrics, network analysis, temporal dynamics, and a graphical user interface for researchers without programming expertise. Cross-library consistency testing against five established Python bibliometric libraries demonstrated agreement on all compared metrics. Biblium is openly available on GitHub and PyPI.

• Language: English
• Keywords: bibliometric analysis, scientometrics, Python library, group analysis, comparative bibliometrics, scientometric software
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FU - Faculty of Administration
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 3359-3377
• Numbering: Vol. 131, issue 5
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-183037
• UDC: 001.891:004
• ISSN on article: 1588-2861
• DOI: 10.1007/s11192-026-05636-8
• COBISS.SI-ID: 276876291
• Publication date in RUL: 02.06.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Scientometrics
• Shortened title: Scientometrics
• Publisher: Springer Nature, Akadémiai Kiadó Zrt
• ISSN: 1588-2861
• COBISS.SI-ID: 512525593

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: bibliometrična analiza, scientometrija, knjižnica za Python, skupinska analiza, primerjalna bibliometrija, scientometrična programska oprema

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P5-0093
• Name: Razvoj sistema učinkovite in uspešne javne uprave

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: J5-50183
• Name: Razvoj naprednih tehnik odkrivanja znanj v podatkih in analize podskupin za bibliometrično analizo: Pythonov paket Biblium in dodatek Orangebib za Orange