Early work research on non-negative matrix factorizations was performed by a Finnish group of researchers in the middle of the 1990s under the name ''positive matrix factorization''.<ref>{{Cite journal | author = P. Paatero, U. Tapper | title = Positive matrix factorization: A non-negative factor model with optimal utilization of error estimates of data values | journal = [[Environmetrics]] | volume = 5 | pages = 111-126 | year = [[1994]] | doi = 10.1002/env.3170050203}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | author = [[Pia Anttila]], [[Pentti Paatero]], Unto Tapper, Olli Järvinen | title = Source identification of bulk wet deposition in Finland by positive matrix factorization | journal = [[Atmospheric Environment]] | volume = 29 | issue = 14 | pages = 1705–1718 | year = 1995 | doi = 10.1016/1352-2310(94)00367-T }}</ref> It became more widely known as ''non-negative matrix factorization'' after Lee and Seung investigated
the properties of the algorithm and published some simple and useful
algorithms for two types of factorizations.<ref>Daniel D. Lee and H. Sebastian Seung (1999). "Learning the parts of objects by non-negative matrix factorization", ''[[Nature_journal | Nature]]'' 401(6755), pp. 788-791.</ref>
