Publication Trends on the Varying Coefficients Model: Estimating the Actual (Under)Utilization of a Highly Acclaimed Method for Studying Statistical Interactions

Numerous papers have demonstrated that by using a varying coefficients model (VCM), researchers can unveil patterns of interactions between variables that could otherwise remain hidden if using the more popular regression model with an interaction term. Hence, one would expect high acceptance of the VCM as a tool for studying statistical interactions in datasets. Yet, the current paper shows that the VCM is still struggling to migrate from journals in which methods are presented to journals in which methods are utilized. First, a search in Google Scholar with the phrase “varying coefficients” returned ~79,200 results in comparison to returning ~2,710,000 results with the phrase “interaction term”. Second, a bibliometric analysis of publications with the VCM showed that in many research domains, there were more publications with the VCM in journals on methods than publications with the VCM in journals for empirical investigations. Economics and environmental studies stood out with many more publications with the VCM in empirical journals than in journals on statistical methods. The gap between the high acclaims of the VCM in the statistical literature and its low utilization rate in practice should be of concern to the research community. The possible reasons for this gap and its potential remedies are discussed.