Has government information on the Internet affected citation patterns?

Abstract

To examine scholars' use of government information in electronic format, the author studied issues of four population studies journals for the years 1990 and 2000 to determine citation patterns to government information. The total number of citations to government documents increased during this 10-year period, although the proportion of government citations decreased in relationship to the total number of citations. Only one journal studied showed an increase in citations to government information sources; it was also the only journal with a significant number of citations to electronic government information.