Multimodal graph-based analysis over the DBLP repository: critical discoveries and hypotheses

The use of graph theory for analyzing network-like data has gained central importance with the rise of the Web 2.0. However, many graph-based techniques are not well-disseminated and neither explored at their full potential, what might depend on a complimentary approach achieved with the combination of multiple techniques. This paper describes the systematic use of graph-based techniques of different types (multimodal) combining the resultant analytical insights around a common domain, the Digital Bibliography & Library Project (DBLP). To do so, we introduce an analytical ensemble based on statistical (degree, and weakly-connected components distribution), topological (average clustering coefficient, and effective diameter evolution), algorithmic (link prediction/machine learning), and algebraic techniques to inspect non-evident features of DBLP at the same time that we interpret the heterogeneous discoveries found along the work. As a result, we have put together a set of techniques demonstrating over DBLP what we call multimodal analysis, an innovative process of information understanding that demands a wide technical knowledge and a deep understanding of the data domain. We expect that our methodology and our findings will foster other multimodal analyses and also that they will bring light over the Computer Science research.