There is a proliferation of publications, but only a f e w core journals contain the bulk of the important articles
K. Subramanyam Mary M. O’Pecko Drexel University Philadelphia, Pa. I91 04 ~
~
In any scientific discipline, a relatively few “core” journals are likely to contain a substantial number of papers and articles bearing on that discipline. The remaining articles are usually scattered in a large number of journals that are peripheral to the discipline. This pattern of concentration and dispersion of literature was observed and noted by S. C. Bradford in 1934. A number of studies made since then
have supported “Bradford’s Law of Scattering” in many scientific disciplines including agriculture, astronomy, biomedical sciences, computer science, information science, marine biology, and operations research. Journals are important channels for the dissemination of research information, and are indispensable to scientists and engineers active in research and development and/or teaching. Scientists and engineers spend between one-third and one-half of their time in activities related to information gathering and dissemination. A substantial portion of this time is spent in perusing current journal issues as a means of
keeping abreast of developments in their fields of specialization. Unfortunately, efforts to keep current on developments are hampered by a proliferation of journals, and a steady increase in their subscription prices. The subscription prices increase, on average, by 10-13% every year. It is, therefore, important to identify the core journals that report a substantial proportion of literature in a given field, and to rank the journals in order of their relevance to a given project or an individual scientist. This paper attempts to develop a ranked list of research journals in the field of environmental science and technology.
Citation analysis Making references to relevant publications is an established practice in scientific communication. The frequency with which a particular journal is cited may be used as a quantitative measure of the “significance” of the journal. The use of frequency of citation for developing core lists of journals goes back to 1927 when P. L. K . Gross and E. M. Gross compiled a list of most frequently cited chemistry journals by examining bibliographic references in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Since then, core lists of journals based on citation analysis have 0013-936X/79/0913-0927$01 .OO/O
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been developed in several fields. The use of citation frequency as an index of the significance of the cited document is based upon certain assumptions: The subject content of the cited document is related to that of the citing document. The number of times a document is cited is directly proportional to its value or intrinsic worth. The publication used as the base for deriving citation data is representative of the entire subject field. I f more baseline reference publications than one are used, then all of them can be weighted equally. All publications cited have actually been used by the citing author. All publications used in the preparation of the citing documents have actually been cited. An additional complication in developing a core list of environmental science and technology journals is the multidisciplinary nature of this field. Practically all branches of the basic and applied sciences and engineering have contributed theories and techniques to this field. In addition, the discipline has also been profoundly affected by several of the social sciences such as law, political science, economics, psychology, and sociology. The result of this intermixing of the traditional disciplines has been the evolution of several subspecialties such as environmental law and urban planning. The eclectic nature of environmental science and technology is also reflected in its literature. This study is limited to research. journals, and excludes other forms of periodical literature, such as newsletters published by activist groups, governmental serials, popular and technical magazines, and serial services such as Environment Law Reporter (Environment Institute, Washington, D.C.). As sources of current information, these latter forms of literature are very important to environmental scientists and engineers, but they are not likely to be cited heavily in published research articles. Environmental Science and Technology ( E S & T ) was chosen as the baseline reference journal for deriving citation data. Since the purpose of this study is to derive a ranked list of research journals, only those references that were cited in the papers in the “Current Research” and “Notes” sections of E S & T were scanned; references cited in the other sections, such as “Outlook,” “Features,” and “Departments” were disregarded. Research articles and notes in all the 12 monthly issues of E S & T (vol. 11, 928
Environmental Science & Technology
1977) were scanned for references, and a list of cited journals, ranked by the total frequency of citation during the year, was developed.
Abstracts, and photocopies of desired papers may be purchased, upon demaiid, from such sources as the Institute for Scientific Information.
Core journals Limitations of core lists A total of 23 16 bibliographic refThe lists of significant journals have erences were found to have been cited limitations. The ranking of titles in in the research papers and notes in these lists is based on frequency of ES& T during 1977. The distribution citation in research papers published by type of cited document is shown in in a leading primary journal. A basic Table I . assumption in generating such lists is Data in Table 1 indicate that a that the frequency of citation of a substantial amount of research infor- journal is an indicator of the intrinsic mation in environmental science and quality of the papers published in it. technology is reported in journals. This However, frequency of citation of a is typical of research information in journal is influenced by factors other other traditional scientific disci- than its intrinsic quality. Some of these plines. are: the reputation of the authors, reTable 2 shows a core list of 25 re- print dissemination, coverage in insearch journals in environmental dexing and abstracting services, and science and technology. Each of these geographic and linguistic barriers. journals was cited a minimum of 10 Also, the relative importance of a times in ES& T during 1977. specific journal to a given user or a IiData in Table 2 show that slightly brary may vary with time. Such variover 54% of the journal literature cited ations may be caused not only by in research papers and notes in ES& T changes in the scope, editorial policy, is drawn from only 25 titles, and the cost and other attributes of the journal remaining papers are scattered in 328 itself, but also by factors such as journals, each of which is cited fewer changes in research activities and inthan I O times. This concentration of terests of journal users. These limitaliterature in a few core journals is, in tions should be kept in mind wjhen general, similar to the pattern preva- using core lists of journals. lent in other disciplines. From the ranked list of journals in Additional reading Table 2 it is possible to identify sig- Bradford, S. C., Documentation, Crosby nificant research journals in environ- Lockwood, London, 1953. mental science and technology. With Cross, P. L. K., Gross, E. M.. Science, 66, the exception of the Federal Register 385-389 (1927). (item 20 in Table 2), most of the Garfield, E., Nutitre, 264, 609--615 journals in the core list contain re- ( 1976). search papers. Individual scientists and Subramanyam, K., N e w Lib. World, 76, engineers engaged in R & D may scan 227-228 (1976). the contents of these journals to iden- Criffith, B. C., Drott, M. C., Small, H . G.. tify recent research papers. Libraries Soc. Social Studies Sci. ~'Vewsl.,2, 9- 13 and information centers could use (1977). these journals as the basis for developing their current awareness services. I n Table 3 is shown a further list of 26 journals, each of which contributed at least 5 , but not more than 9 citations during 1977. I t may be seen from Tables 2 and 3 that while the first 25 journals in the ranked lists accounted for over 54% of the cited references, the next 26 journals yielded only an additional 12% of K. Subramanyam ( I ) is an associate prothe cited references. The 26 titles listed Jbssor o f librarj. science at Drexel UniPhiladelphia. Dr. S u b r a n r a n y i t ~ in Table 3 represent journals that are rrrsitj), htrs prthlished pupers on the literalirrr of' not as "productive" as those in Table .\cietice mid technologj, in profe.ssiona1 2: yct they are important enough to be ,joitrtirrl.s, and has contributed articles to considered for acquisition if resources rho Encyclopedia of Library and Inforpermit. I f resources are not available mation Science. for acquiring these journals, libraries M. O'Pecko (r) is a library ussistant may provide bibliographic access to iMary n the DriJxel Unicersity Libraries. She is the contents of these journals by ac- c,irrrc~ntlyworking f o r her M . S . degree in quiring appropriatc indexing and ab- I.ihrcrrj, cind Itformcition Scirnce. stracting services such as Encironmrnt Coordinated by L R E
Coal DesuIf urizat ion Chemical and Physical Methods ACS Symposium Series No. 64 Thomas D Wheelock, Editor
lowa State University
Based on a symposium sponsored b y the Division of Fuel Chemistry of the American Chemical Society. The 23 chapters in this volume cover the current research on industrial processes and methods for removing sulfur from coal Both chemical and physical extraction methods that are used currently or that are being adopted currently by industry are reviewed Related work on characterizing and analyzing the various forms of sulfur in coal IS included This work is significant because it can lead to the development of industrial technology that will enable medium- and high-sulfur coals to be utilized in an environmentally acceptable manner
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CONTENTS
Coal Microstructure and Pyrite Distribution Forms of Sulfur in Coal Organic Sulfur in Raw Coals Coal Flotation Preparation Chemical Comminution Process for Coal Desulfurization Coal Beneficialion Methods e Dry Table - Pyrite Removal from Coal Magnetic Desulfurization of Some Illinois Basin Coals High Intensity High-Gradient Magnetic Separation Meyers Process for Desulfurization Coal Desulfurization Test Plant Status Oxidative Desulfurization of Coal Ammonia Oxygen System for Sulfur Removal Alkaline Solutions with Dlssoived Oxygen. Hydrothermal Coal Process Low Temperature Chlorinoiysis Desulfurization and Sulfidation of Coal and Coal Char Fluid-Bed Carbonization Desulfurization Hydrodesulfurization of Coals Hydrodesulfurization of Coal Char by Acid Leach Desulfurization during Gaseous Treatment Desulfurization in a Fluidized Bed Reactor
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.
332 pages (1977) clothbound $25.00 LC 77-17216 ISBN 0-8412-0400-4
SWAmerican Chemical Society 1155 16th St., N.W /Wash, D.C. 20036 Please send copies of 64 Coal Desulfurfzalion at S25 00 per copy
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