Biomedical literature: analysis of journal articles collected by a radiation‐ and cell‐biologist

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Abstract
The author's journal reference cards for 1965 and 1966 were analysed according to three “interest patterns”: (I) the total collection of 1469 article titles, a “potentially useful” set; (II) a subset concerning only his research specialty (deoxyribonucleic acid, histone, chromosomes, or radiation); and (III) a subset of articles defined as “useful” (those actually read by March, 1967). For each pattern, journals were ranked by frequency of use and a scatter diagram was drawn.Patterns I and II largely resembled patterns obtained by counting citations in basic journals or by counting publications of selected researchers. Pattern III was more widely scattered. It is concluded that access to diverse journals is needed by researchers to supply new ideas, and that this diversity of reading is not reflected adequately by citation counting or other indirect means.Current Contents, used by the author for current‐awareness purposes in building his card file, generated 88% of all articles. Scatter diagrams indicated the decreased scatter predicted from its use.The 30 most important journals in this collection, including about 80% of titles, are ranked for each pattern.

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