Poster Board Number: 35
Title: Trends Over Time: Bibliometric Analysis of a Health Sciences Library Journal
Objective: To examine by bibliometric analysis all peer-reviewed articles published in a leading health sciences library journal for article subject, author characteristics, collaborative efforts, institutional affiliation, and regional productivity, as well as material type, age, and subject of cited references.
Methods: Analysis of the 428 peer-reviewed articles in Medical Reference Services Quarterly from inception in 1982 through 2009 was conducted. Procedures were created to ensure a high degree of inter-rater reliability. Each article was assigned to 1 subject area. Publication rates by gender, Academy of Health Information Professionals membership, and productivity by institution was compiled. Author collaboration by decade was compared for both intra-institutional and inter-institutional publications by individuals and number of coauthors. Other characteristics examined were frequencies of publication by individual authors and number of authors per article. Productivity by institutional affiliation category and US geographic regions compared to percentage of medical schools was calculated. All 4,388 cited references were assigned to 1 of 6 publication types; average citation age was calculated; number of citations per journal title, and subject areas of cited journal titles were also determined.
Results: Minor differences were found between male and female publication rates compared to their professional percentage. Over the last decade, 25% of authors listed Academy of Health Information Professionals membership. Academic health sciences library authors consistently account for the majority of papers. Single authored papers are most common. Collaboration rates have increased within the same institution; however, the same pattern was not demonstrated for inter-institutional collaboration. Wide variations of authorship by region and institution were discovered. The Northeast had a disproportionately large number of authors compared to the number of medical schools. Medical science journals were cited more often than library and information science journals. A relatively small number of journal titles accounted for many of the 722 journal titles cited.
Conclusion: Analysis of peer-reviewed health sciences librarianship publications is valuable in monitoring the profession. Scholarly output in the field needs to be examined to detect patterns, trends, and issues.
Authors: Susan E. Werner, AHIP, Medical Librarian; Colleen M. Kenefick, AHIP, Librarian; Health Sciences Library; Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY
