A bibliometric study of indexing and abstracting, 1876-1976

Abstract

In a bibliometric study of references to indexing and abstracting from 1876 to 1976 a total of 2,381 references in Wellisch’s Indexing and abstracting: an international bibliography were analysed by a PL/1 program. Most of the articles (67%) appeared as journal papers. The Bradford-Zipf law was applied to investigate the journal literature. Thirteen core journals were identified, six of which emphasize the subject of indexing and abstracting. Lotka’s law was used to measure the productivity of authors. The vast majority, 1,533 out of 1,966 authors, contributed only one article. The leading authors and their active life in this subject were also studied. English is the predominant language of articles on indexing and abstracting.