Discussion of authorship distributions focuses on the results of a numerical study for fractional authorship attribution. Highlights include coauthors; multinomial coefficients; Lotka functions; probability distributions of articles per author; and probability distributions of authors per article. (LRW)

Proposes a mathematical model to explain the observed concentration or diversity of nominal classes in information retrieval systems. The Lorenz Curve is discussed, Information Production Process (IPP) is explained, and a heuristic explanation of circumstances in which the model might be used is offered. (30 references) (LRW)

This article offers comments and clarifications of Egghe's paper, which dealt with information production processes (IPP) and the Gini index. Topics addressed include the length of the Lorenz curve as a concentration measure, the discrete duality operator, and a Bradford-Leimkuhler distribution. (10 references) (LRW)

Reviews informetric, or bibliometric, distributions, including Lotka's, rank frequency distributions, Zipf functions, Mandelbrot functions, Leimkuhler functions, and Bradford's formulations. An example of the use of these techniques to analyze song texts of Thomas Dolby is given, and results are reported that show a fit with a Leimkuhler function.…

Examines the robustness property of Lotka's law for scholarly papers with more than one author. Adjusted counts for assigning credit to authors proportionally are explained, and two bibliographies are analyzed using frequency distributions that show where the robustness property breaks down. (nine references) (LRW)

Reformulates the success-breeds-success (SBS) principle in informetrics in order to generate a general theory of source-item relationships. Topics include a time-dependent probability, a new model for the expected probability that is compared with the SBS principle with exact combinatorial calculations, classical frequency distributions, and…

Discusses the influence of publication delays on the aging of scientific literature and explains how the undisturbed aging function and the publication delay combine to give the observed aging function through a mathematical operation called convolution. Shows the convolution of various distributions and considers a paradox between theory and real…

Discussion of informetric distributions shows that generalized Leimkuhler functions give proper fits to a large variety of Bradford curves, including those exhibiting a Groos droop or a rising tail. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test is used to test goodness of fit, and least-square fits are compared with Egghe's method. (Contains 53 references.) (LRW)