A new bibliometric approach to assess the scientific specialization of regions

The objective of the current work is to identify the territorial scientific specializations present in Italy, at the levels of regions and provinces (NUTS2 and NUTS3). To do this, we take a bibliometric approach based on the scientific production of the entire public research system in the hard sciences sphere, for the 5 years 2006–10. In particular, we apply a new index of scientific specialization (Scientific Specialization Index, SSI) that takes account of both the quantity and quality of scientific production achieved by the research institutions of a given territory.