Towards the assessment of mapping knowledge domains

Mapping knowledge domains is of importance to understand how a discipline develops and how publications, authors, journals and/or affiliations relate to each other in the discipline. Yet, maps without rigorous assessment cannot offer convincing evidence to research policy and decision making. This brief communication discusses the elements to be assessed in a typical assessment task and potential quantitative and qualitative strategies for the assessment of mapping knowledge domains. At the end of this communication, I also point out potential future outlooks in mapping knowledge domains and their assessments.