Title: Agent-based computing from multi-agent systems to agent-based Models: a visual survey,
Abstract: Agent-Based Computing is a diverse research domain concerned with the
building of intelligent software based on the concept of "agents". In this
paper, we use Scientometric analysis to analyze all sub-domains of agent-based
computing. Our data consists of 1,064 journal articles indexed in the ISI web
of knowledge published during a twenty year period: 1990-2010. These were
retrieved using a topic search with various keywords commonly used in
sub-domains of agent-based computing. In our proposed approach, we have
employed a combination of two applications for analysis, namely Network
Workbench and CiteSpace - wherein Network Workbench allowed for the analysis of
complex network aspects of the domain, detailed visualization-based analysis of
the bibliographic data was performed using CiteSpace. Our results include the
identification of the largest cluster based on keywords, the timeline of
publication of index terms, the core journals and key subject categories. We
also identify the core authors, top countries of origin of the manuscripts
along with core research institutes. Finally, our results have interestingly
revealed the strong presence of agent-based computing in a number of
non-computing related scientific domains including Life Sciences, Ecological
Sciences and Social Sciences.