A research infrastructure for the social sciences & humanities
At Cortext, our goal is to empower researchers by promoting advanced qualitative-quantitative mixed methods. Our primary focus is on studies about the dynamics of science, technology and innovation, and about the roles of knowledge and expertise in societies.
We understand the move towards digital humanities and computational methods not as addressing a technological gap for the social sciences, but rather as entailing entirely new assemblages between its disciplines and those of modern statistics and computer sciences. And we work to tackle ever more complex research problems and deal with the profusion of new and diverse sources of information without losing sight of the situatedness and reflexivity required of studies of human societies.
Cortext is hosted by the LISIS research unit at Gustave Eiffel University, and was launched by French institutes IFRIS and INRAE, receiving their continued support.
Cortext Manager
Cortext Manager is our current main attraction, a publicly available web application providing data analysis methods curated and developed by our team of researchers and engineers.
Upload a textual corpus in order to analyse its discourse, names, categories, citations, places, dates etc, with methods for science/controversy/issue mapping, distant reading, document clustering, geo-spatial and network visualizations, and more.
You can jump straight to Cortext Manager and create an account, but we suggest taking a look at the Documentation and Tutorials as you start your journey.
Latest journal articles employing our instruments
Wezel, Alexander; Goette, Julia; Lagneaux, Elisabeth; Passuello, Gloria; Reisman, Erica; Rodier, Christophe; Turpin, Grégoire
Agroecology in Europe: Research, Education, Collective Action Networks, and Alternative Food Systems Journal Article
In: Sustainability, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 1214, 2018.
@article{Wezel2018b,
title = {Agroecology in Europe: Research, Education, Collective Action Networks, and Alternative Food Systems},
author = {Alexander Wezel and Julia Goette and Elisabeth Lagneaux and Gloria Passuello and Erica Reisman and Christophe Rodier and Grégoire Turpin},
url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/su10041214},
doi = {10.3390/su10041214},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-04-17},
urldate = {2018-04-17},
journal = {Sustainability},
volume = {10},
number = {4},
pages = {1214},
abstract = {Agroecology is considered with different focus and weight in different parts of the world as a social and political movement, as science, and as practice. Despite its multitude of definitions, agroecology has begun in Europe to develop in different regional, national and continental networks of researchers, practitioners, advocates and movements. However, there is a lack of a comprehensive overview about these different developments and networks. Therefore, this paper attempts to document and provide a mapping of the development of European agroecology in its diverse forms. Through a literature review, interviews, active conference participation, and an extensive internet search we have collected information about the current state and development of agroecology in Europe. Agroecological research and higher education exist more in western and northern Europe, but farm schools and farmer-to-farmer training are also present in other regions. Today a large variety of topics are studied at research institutions. There is an increasing number of bottom-up agroecological initiatives and national or continental networks and movements. Important movements are around food sovereignty, access to land and seeds. Except for France, there are very few concrete policies for agroecology in Europe. Agroecology is increasingly linked to different fields of agri-food systems. This includes Community Supported Agriculture systems, but also agroecological territories, and some examples of labelling products. To amplify agroecology in Europe in the coming years, policy development will be crucial and proponents of agroecology must join forces and work hand-in-hand with the many stakeholders engaged in initiatives to develop more sustainable agriculture and food systems. View Full-Text},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Munk, Anders Kristian
Genanvendt: Et kritisk tilbageblik på digitale metoders konsekvenser for kontroverskortlægningen Journal Article
In: Tema: Digitale metoder, vol. 29, no. 1, 2018.
@article{Munk2018,
title = {Genanvendt: Et kritisk tilbageblik på digitale metoders konsekvenser for kontroverskortlægningen},
author = {Anders Kristian Munk},
url = {https://rauli.cbs.dk/index.php/dansksociologi/article/view/5722/6370},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.22439/dansoc.v29i1.5722},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-04-04},
urldate = {2018-04-04},
journal = {Tema: Digitale metoder},
volume = {29},
number = {1},
abstract = {Digitale metoders centrale postulat er, at vi kan genanvende nettets medier til at sige noget om samfundet i øvrigt. Det gælder ikke mindst indenfor kontroverskortlægningen,hvor digitale medier er blevet væsentlige skuepladser for diskussioner om ny viden og teknologi. Begrebet genanvendelse synes at indebære, at en eksisterende metodisk og analytisk tradition finder nye måder at bruge nogle redskaber på. Vi kan således have en tendens til at spørge, hvordan kontroverskortlægningen har fundet nye anvendelser for værktøjer til eksempelvis mønstergenkendelse eller automatiseret tekstanalyse. I denne artikel argumenterer jeg for, at vi bør stille spørgsmålet om genanvendelse anderledes. Efter 15 år i tæt parløb med nettets indfødte medier og metoder kan vi konstatere, at det også er kontroverskortlægningen selv, der har forandret sig; at det i nogen grad også er den metodiske og analytiske tradition, der er blevet genanvendt til nye formål og i sine nye redskabers billede.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Matos, Fábio L; Ross, Steve W; ann ida Huvenne, Veerle; Davies, Jaime; Cunha, Marina R
Canyons pride and prejudice: Exploring the submarine canyon research landscape, a history of geographic and thematic bias Journal Article
In: Progress in Oceanography, 2018.
@article{matos2018canyons,
title = {Canyons pride and prejudice: Exploring the submarine canyon research landscape, a history of geographic and thematic bias},
author = {Fábio L Matos and Steve W Ross and Veerle ann ida Huvenne and Jaime Davies and Marina R Cunha},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2018.04.010},
doi = {10.1016/j.pocean.2018.04.010},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-01-01},
urldate = {2018-01-01},
journal = {Progress in Oceanography},
publisher = {Elsevier},
abstract = {We mapped submarine canyon research using a scientometric approach to define and characterize its scientific landscape based on a comprehensive bibliographic dataset. The abundance of studies covering structural and functional aspects of submarine canyons allowed us to identify the existing knowledge clusters, historical trends, and emergent topics in canyon research. Our analysis documented a network of knowledge clusters of which four were particularly relevant: a strong cluster on “Geology & Geophysics”, well established since the beginnings of canyon research; a cluster on “Biology & Ecology” that gained strength primarily over the past two to three decades; a cluster on “Oceanographic Processes” which occupied a central position in the network and connected strongly to almost all the other clusters and especially to the fourth main cluster on “Modelling”. A smaller, but also well connected, cluster on “Biogeochemistry” related closely to “Biology & Ecology”, and three other small clusters (“Sedimentology”, “Sediments & Tidal Currents”, “Canyon Sampling”) bridged the main clusters. Finally, we identified three small, but specific satellite clusters (“Oil & Gas”, “Chemosynthetic Communities”, “Molecular & Symbionts”). The high-level structure of the knowledge network reflects a latent interdisciplinarity in canyon research. However, the evolution of the research lines over the past nine decades suggests that this pattern arose mostly in the new millennium. Emergent research topics in the last decade also reveal a concern regarding anthropogenic impacts and climate-driven processes. Our results also show a well implemented and international collaboration network, although research efforts have been mainly directed towards only a few canyon systems. A geographical and thematic bias also characterizes canyon research, with specific topics addressed preferentially in particular canyons by different leading research institutions. This spatial and thematic bias, together with the paucity of truly inter-disciplinary studies, may be the most important limitation to integrated knowledge and development in canyon research and hinders a global, more comprehensive understanding of canyon patterns and processes. The scientific landscape mapping and the complementary results are made available as an open and interactive platform that canyon stakeholders can use as a tool to identify knowledge gaps, to find key players in the global collaboration network and to facilitate planning of future research in submarine canyons.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Akkari, Monia El; Sandoval, Mélanie; Perchec, Sophie Le; Réchauchère, Olivier
Textual Analysis of Published Research Articles on the Environmental Impacts of Land-Use Change Journal Article
In: Sustainable Agriculture Reviews, vol. 30, pp. 15-38, 2018.
@article{Akkari2018,
title = {Textual Analysis of Published Research Articles on the Environmental Impacts of Land-Use Change},
author = {Monia El Akkari and Mélanie Sandoval and Sophie Le Perchec and Olivier Réchauchère},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96289-4_2},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-96289-4_2},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-01-01},
urldate = {2018-01-01},
journal = { Sustainable Agriculture Reviews},
volume = {30},
pages = {15-38},
abstract = {Regardless of the scale considered, land use is determined by a variety of factors relating to both local soil and climatic conditions and socioeconomic considerations (population growth, food and energy requirements, public policies, etc.). Changes in land use resulting from shifts in these factors over time will have environmental consequences. We conducted a review of the scientific literature to identify the degree to which environmental assessments take direct and indirect land-use change into account. A textual analysis was completed on a collection of 5730 scientific articles, published between 1975 and 2015 and listed in the WoS™ database, addressing the relationship between reorganizations of agricultural and forestry systems, or spatial planning, direct and indirect land-use change resulting from these reorganizations; and environmental impacts. By identifying the most frequently used words or groups of words within this corpus (focusing on the title, abstract, and keywords fields), the textual analysis platform CorTexT Manager (Platform developed by IFRIS (the Institute for Research and Innovation in Society, based in the Paris region) assembles diagrams, or “maps,” of occurrence and co-occurrence for these terms, which can then be used to identify the principal themes addressed in the corpus based on clusters of proximate keywords. Eight clusters were so identified: two focused on climate change and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems (thus corresponding both to an aspect of the biophysical context and an environmental impact linked to a reorganization); one associated a reorganization (biofuel production) with a dominant environmental impact (the effects of greenhouse gas emissions); three were centered on keywords related to other types of reorganizations (urbanization, grassland management, forestry management); and two focused on environmental impacts on biodiversity and water resources. The five “thematic identifiers” showing the highest number of occurrences were greenhouse gas emission, land-use policy, biofuel, farm system, and pasture land, suggesting that the theme “GHG impacts of biofuel production” is the most prevalent. A more detailed textual analysis of articles in the cluster relating to non-food biomass production (1785 articles) was also conducted, and confirmed the growing importance, notably since 2005–2006, of research linking the bioenergy production, land-use change, and climate impacts from greenhouse gas emissions. Reorganizations toward non-food biomass production also help explain the presence of degraded lands among the most frequently occurring terms in the corpus. Life-cycle analysis is the most important assessment methodology used to evaluate the environmental impacts of bioenergy production.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
News
Digital methods for technology assessment
Chapter 38: Digital methods for technology assessment With the rise of digital media and the seemingly unlimited possibilities offered by Digital Methods (DM), TA is being confronted with the [...]
Workshop at EASST4S 2024 in Amsterdam
Every four years, the major Science and Technology Studies academic societies from Europe and North America, EASST and 4S, gather for a joint meeting. That happened this year, where EASST-4S 2024 [...]
Presenting data collection methods at the OpenAlex user meeting
Last week, Ale Abdo and Joenio Costa presented at the first ever OpenAlex User Conference a short talk entitled “Analysing OpenAlex data with Cortext”, highlighting the current and [...]
CorText Newsfeed

Want to stay up-to-date with the latest training sessions and developments in our methods and data? We invite you to subscribe to Cortext Newsfeed, our succint and researcher oriented quarterly newsletter.
Read the previous editions of our newsletter