The concept of ‘modes of knowledge production’ was used by Gibbons et al. (1994) to distinguish between transdisciplinary (‘Mode 2’) R&D and more traditional (‘Mode 1’) research. This paper explores whether the Internet provides a means to operationalize ‘Mode 2’ knowledge production as containing a differently codified communication pattern which can be compared to co-word and citation patterns in scientometric databases (‘Mode 1’). Innovations on the drugs market, for example, can be indicated at the commercial end by using the trade names of the drugs (e.g., Evista), while the very same innovation can be retrieved in the patent and science citation databases using the generic names of the active substances involved (in this case, raloxifene). By using the generic names the new drugs can be traced back into their respective knowledge bases

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