Analyzes the citation pattern among all communication journals covered by the first nine years of the "Journal Citation Reports" volume of the "Social Sciences Citation Index" (1977-1985). Notes that the communication field exhibits clustering and inbreeding, consisting of cliques of interpersonal journals, mass media journals,…

Discussion of impact factors of scientific journals focuses on a study that examined the Institute for Scientific Information's annual listing based upon data from the Science Citation Index. This article presents evidence that the values of the impact factors are often inaccurate due to an inappropriate definition of citable documents.…

This response to an earlier article on a combined log-linear/MDS model for mapping journals by citation analysis discusses the underlying assumptions of the Poisson model with respect to characteristics of the citation process. The importance of empirical data analysis is also addressed. (nine references) (LRW)

Using three published indexes of rehabilitation literature (Index of Selected Rehabilitation Research and Development Literature, Excerpta Medica's Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine Abstract Journal, and Rehabilitation Index), a list of core rehabilitation journals was compiled. The 14 journals cited 15 or more times in at least 2 of the…

Discusses the use of citation analysis as an effective tool for scholars to determine what journals would be appropriate for publication of their work. Calculating citation distance is explained, and a study with economics journals is described that computed citation distance between previously published articles and journals in the field. (12…

Identifies frequently cited journal articles on children's emotional/behavioral disorders. Describes characteristics (e.g., funding source, research design, statistical method) of frequently cited articles and compares them to randomly selected articles. Discusses implications. (Author/ABL)

Discusses "impact factor," a measure of journal impact defined by the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI) and available in Journal Citation Reports. Argues that "impact factor" is misnamed and misused, suggesting an alternative name and interpretation of the measure, and proposes two new measures to assess the impact of…

An analysis of citations in the 1993 volumes of the 4 most-cited ornithological journals revealed that 75% of references were to serials, 22.5% to books, and 2.5% to dissertations. The study found that 96.73% of citations were in English, title dispersion included 755 journals, and time span was greater than 33 years. Lists the 69 most-cited…

Addresses objections to the validity of assuming a Poisson loglinear model as the generating process for citations from one journal into another. Fluctuations in citation rate, serial dependence on citations, impossibility of distinguishing between rate changes and serial dependence, evidence for changes in Poisson rate, and transitivity…

An analysis of citations to 24 science journals (1972-94) from Social SciSearch on DIALOG determined that, although other disciplines cite library science articles more often than previous studies have indicated, a comparison with other social sciences showed that library science is not cited as often as the more developed fields. Recommends…

An analysis of 4,780 citations taken from scholarly journals in 16 areas of engineering showed that journals are cited 53% of the time; electrical engineering literature has the shortest "half-life"; and literature types age at different rates for engineering researchers, with books having the longest useful lives and conference papers the…

This study used citation analysis to determine whether the disciplines contributing to the journal literature of artificial intelligence (AI)--philosophy, psychology, linguistics, computer science, and engineering--share a common AI research base. The idea that AI consists of a completely interdisciplinary endeavor was refuted. (MES)

Examines the presentation of economic arguments in 351 articles (from 1965 to 1988) that focused on some economic aspect of communication in three core journals in communications. Uses citation analysis to identify core referents for these articles. Finds that communications scholars cite other communication journals more than economic journals.…

A citation analysis of English language journal literature in librarianship and information science was conducted to determine the degree to which authors from the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States cite foreign literature. Comparison of the results indicates that UK journals are more receptive to foreign literature. (17 references) (LRW)

Describes a citation analysis that examined the 28 best articles published from 1969-1996 in JASIS ("Journal of the American Society for Information Science")(ASIS 1999 Handbook and Directory, p.25). Results highlight single-authored works that are twice as long (16.21 pages) as the average article (8.93 pages), are cited and self-cited…