For the next 3~5 years, between 2002 and 2005, several routes of research and development are likely to emerge or establish. In particular, the need for expanding the current coverage of citation databases to include conference proceedings and patent databases can trigger further research in automatic citation indexing and large-scale text analysis. The need for timelier disciplinary snapshot should also drive much research onto this route. Automatic extraction of citation context will become increasingly popular. Software agents will begin to emerge for summarizing multiple citation contexts – an important step in resolving the bottleneck of streamlining quantitative and qualitative approaches to science mapping. The recent surge of interest in small-world networks is likely to continue. One can expect to see more specific studies of scientific networks as small-world networks, including Web-based resources analysis, traditional citation databases, and patent databases. Research in small-world networks is likely to draw much of attention to network analysis tools that can handle large-scale scientific networks. Cross-section comparisons should increase.

2。2005~2010

面向知识的搜索和浏览工具，用户将用把更多的精力用在理解和解释信息而不是搜索信息，自动提取引文环境和摘要更为成熟，科学数据于科学文献相互连通

Between 2005 and 2010, knowledge-oriented search tools and exploration tools will become widely available. Users major search tasks will probably switch from data-oriented search to comprehension and interpretation tasks. Intelligent software agents will begin to mature for citation context extraction and summarization.  Genomic maps will play more substantial roles in linking scientific data and scientific literature. A synergy of data mining in genomic map data and scientific literature will attract increasing interest.

3。2010~

科学预测和模拟开始应用到科学本身，用来辅助科学发现。

Beyond 2010, mapping scientific frontiers should reach a point where science maps can start to make forecasts and simulations. Powerful simulations will allow scientists to see the potential impact of a new technology. Further than that, we will have to wait and see.