Skip to main content

Program Uncovers Hidden Connections In The Literature

It seems like such an obvious idea once it's stated: With the explosive growth of scientific literature and the concomitant fragmentation of the scientific community into narrow specialties, there must be undisclosed connections lurking. Suppose one field of science has linked medical condition A with symptom B, and a completely different field has linked dietary deficiency C with that same symptom B. The literature then would contain an implicit logical link between A and C, but unless a resea

Written byRobert Finn
| 9 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
9:00


PROGRAM DEVELOPER: Don R. Swanson, professor emeritus of information science at the University of Chicago, has developed a computer program that will allow systematic searching for links in scientific literature.
The idea may be obvious--in fact, it has been discussed by scholars and philosophers of science for decades--but it took the distinguished information scientist Don R. Swanson, professor emeritus of information science at the University of Chicago, to prove it. Not only has he found repeated examples of such implicit relationships in the medical literature, but he has developed a computer program that will allow such relationships to be searched systematically. Although Swanson's work has been hailed from within the information science community, there are some criticisms of his approach, and biomedical researchers have been slow to jump on the bandwagon.

Swanson prefers to call his approach text-based informatics. Other enthusiasts, such as Michael D. Gordon, professor of computer and ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
Already a member?
Add The Scientist as a preferred source on Google

Add The Scientist as a preferred Google source to see more of our trusted coverage.

Meet the Author

Published In

Related articles background image
The Scientist Digest cover September 2026
September 2026

Multiplex Microscopy Becomes Easier with Encoded Antibodies

A new system that enables researchers to uniquely tag monoclonal antibodies for use in microscopy could help simplify complex imaging studies.

View this Issue
Essential Genes Are Dominantly Activated by Single Transcription Factors

Essential Genes Are Dominantly Activated by Single Transcription Factors

EpiCypher Logo
Rethinking ALS Biomarkers: From Discovery to Clinical Impact

Rethinking ALS Biomarkers: From Discovery to Clinical Impact

Alamar Biosciences logo
Engineering CAR-Neutrophils In Vivo to Target Glioblastoma

Engineering CAR-Neutrophils In Vivo to Target Glioblastoma

Miltenyi
Best Practices for qPCR Assay Design and Optimization

Best Practices for qPCR Assay Design and Optimization

Bio-Rad

Products

Closeup image of a multi channel pipette dispensing pink liquid into a 96-well plate.

The ASSIST PLUS pipetting robot for affordable workflow automation

Integra Logo
Single cells in suspension

Rapidly isolate primary cells and make uniform single-cell suspensions with Corning® Cell Strainers

Corning logo
Abstract image representing cell membranes linked together.

CellBrite® Steady Membrane Stain: Cell surface staining built for real-time imaging

Biotium
sino biological logo

Monod Bio Licenses AI-designed Protein Technologies to SignalChem Biotech for Custom Discovery Assays