ABS:Sabate, Publication trends of vegitarian nutrition articles...

[Gretchen Whitney]

TITLE:          Publication trends of vegetarian nutrition articles in
                biomedical literature, 1966-1995 (Article, English)
AUTHOR:         Sabate, J; Duk, A; Lee, CL
SOURCE:         AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CLINICAL NUTRITION 70 (3 SUPPL). SEP
                1999. p.601S-607S AMER SOC CLINICAL NUTRITION, BETHESDA

SEARCH TERM(S):  CJ SCIENTOMETRICS; AK BIBLIOMETR/

KEYWORDS:       vegetarian; vegetarian diets; vegetarianism; MEDLINE;
                publication trends; bibliometric study; nutritional
                adequacy
KEYWORDS+:       SCIENCES

ABSTRACT:  We documented publication trends of vegetarian nutrition
articles in biomedical literature between 1966 and 1995 using the National
Institutes of Health MEDLINE bibliographic database. The publication rate
of vegetarian articles increased steadily during the 3 decades, from an
average of <10/y in the late 1960s to 76/y in the early 1990s. After
adjusting for the total number of articles indexed in MEDLINE annually, we
found that publication of vegetarian nutrition articles increased
dramatically, by I 4-fold, during the 1970s and reached an oscillating
plateau during the 1980s. In the early 1990s, the proportion of vegetarian
nutrition articles 8 articles per 1000 vegetarian nutrition articles and
approximate to 20 per 100 000 articles indexed by MEDLINE. Non-nutrition
journals have progressively published a larger share of all vegetarian
articles in the biomedical literature during the period studied. The
nature and study design of published vegetarian research has changed over
the years as well. The proportion of original research and review articles
increased whereas case series and letters to the editor decreased. Reports
of epidemiologic studies of vegetarians with longitudinal designs have
superseded cross-sectional designs in number and proportion. In 40% of all
publications, preventive and therapeutic applications of vegetarian diets
constituted the major themes of vegetarian articles in the decade of
1986-1995. However, 20 y earlier the main focus was on the nutritional
adequacy of vegetarian diets. The progressive change in the themes of
vegetarian nutrition publications is interpreted as a shift in the role of
vegetarian diets in human nutrition.

AUTHOR ADDRESS: J Sabate, Loma Linda Univ, Sch Publ Hlth, Dept Nutr,
Loma
                Linda, CA 92350 USA

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