Researchers can now do their own analysis of research on the risks of nanomaterials
with a new tool unveiled today at the website of the International Council on
Nanotechnology (ICON). The database analysis tool can be found at http://icon.rice.edu/report.cfm.
The ICON EHS Database Analysis Tool offers a way for researchers at universities,
nongovernmental
organizations, government and industry worldwide to analyze ICON’s database
of
citations to peer-reviewed publications addressing nanomaterials’ environmental,
health and
safety impacts. The tool enables research comparisons, with every database entry
assigned nine
indices and each index including a trend across time.
“In addition to returning a list of abstracts that meet criteria chosen
by the user, the database now
allows the user to analyze research trends across time and by category,”
said ICON director and
Rice chemist Dr. Kristen Kulinowski. “This provides the user with a much
more powerful way to
interact with the database’s rich content.”
ICON is an international organization with members from academia, non-governmental
organizations, industry and government dedicated to the safe, responsible and
beneficial
development of nanotechnology. Its EHS database, introduced in 2005, was the
first effort to
integrate the vast and diverse scientific literature on the impacts of nanoparticles.
“The new tool is an important addition to the database,” said Kulinowski.
“It is designed to
provide a better understanding of the current state of knowledge of risk-relevant
research and
help identify any gaps in knowledge that need to be addressed in order to support
robust risk
assessment, management and communication efforts.”
With the newly enabled features, a researcher can:
- Compare categories within a specific time range, e.g., selecting papers
published between
2000-2007 and requesting the number that studied nanoscale carbons, oxides,
metals and
semiconductors.
- Track the progression of publications in a given category by month or year,
e.g., plotting
the number of publications studying nanoscale carbons and oxides by year or
month
between 2000 and 2007.
- Generate and export custom reports
- Click on a report result to generate a list of publications meeting user-defined
criteria.