From algorithms to the environment: mapping the sciences on Hamming distance based on Scopus data

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to conduct a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of scientific publications on the Hamming distance and its application, based on data from the Scopus database (1958–2025), identifying key development trends, leading scientists, institutions, and countries, as well as outlining areas of application.Methods. The study used data from the international scientometric database Scopus (Elsevier), which provides broad thematic and geographical coverage of publications.The search was conducted using the keyword phrase “hamming distance.” The stages of the study included: forming a sample based on the search criteria; quantitative and structural analysis of publications; data visualization.The results. Research on the topic of Hamming distance in Scopus covers a period of more than 65 years (1958–2025) and shows a clear evolution: from isolated publications in the 1960s and 1970s to rapid growth since the 2000s, peaking in 2023–2024. The average annual growth rate of publications (CAGR) is 9.43%, confirming the steady development of the topic and its high relevance in modern science. The largest number of publications on the subject under study are by Dinh H.Q., Amir A., Palanikumar M., Ferreira H.C., Pissis S.P., and Solé P., whose works focus on coding theory, search algorithms, and combinatorial structures. The leading institutions in terms of the number of publications are the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, CNRS (France), TsinghuaUniversity, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, and the University of Waterloo (Canada). The leaders in terms of the number of publications among countries are China (2,604), the United States (2,043), and India (936), which together account for almost half of all works. Europe is represented by strong centers (Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland), while Ukraine’s contribution is 46 publications (corresponding to the level of Romania and exceeding some other Eastern European countries). The largest segment of publications is formed by journal articles (56.1%) and conference materials (41.6%). In terms of subject areas, computer science (67.6%), mathematics (37.8%), and engineering (36.8%) dominate, together accounting for over 80% of publications.Conclusions. Hamming distance is a universal tool that has evolved from a narrow coding theory tool and combines classical mathematical properties with broad interdisciplinary applications – from cybersecurity, artificial intelligence algorithms, and cryptography to medical diagnostics, bioinformatics, and ecology.