Mapping the intellectual structure of the decision sciences, 1980-1997: A prelimary co-citation analysis

The purpose of this study is to assess the intellectual development of the Decision Sciences field based upon an author co-citation analysis. This study proposes to be an introductory research investigation in identifying groups of authors whose work fall into similar research areas. Each person's work builds on that of another and it is implied that the history of exchanges between die members of these groups in a discipline describes the intellectual history and progression of the field (Culnan, 1986). The resulting mapping can serve as a benchmark for future evaluation of works published in the Decision Sciences.