Potter, J. 2010. Mapping the literature of occupational therapy: an update. JOURNAL OF THE MEDICAL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 98 (3): 235-242
Eugene Garfield
garfield at CODEX.CIS.UPENN.EDU
Mon Sep 13 16:43:16 EDT 2010
Potter, J. 2010. Mapping the literature of occupational therapy: an update.
JOURNAL OF THE MEDICAL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 98 (3): 235-242.
Author Full Name(s): Potter, Jonathan
Language: English
Document Type: Article
Abstract: Objectives: This study updated Reed's 1999 "Mapping the Literature
of Occupational Therapy.'' An analysis of citation patterns and indexing
coverage was undertaken to identify the core literature of occupational
therapy and to determine access to that literature.
Methods: Citations from three source journals for the years 2006 through 2008
were studied following the common methodology of the "Mapping the Literature
of Allied Health Project.'' Bradford's Law of Scattering was applied to analyze
the productivity of cited journals. A comparative analysis of indexing was
conducted across three bibliographic databases.
Results: A total of 364 articles cited 10,425 references. Journals were the most
frequently cited format, accounting for 65.3% of the references, an increase of
4.1% over the 1999 study. Approximately one-third of the journal references
cited a cluster of 9 journals, with the American Journal of Occupational Therapy
dominating the field. An additional 120 journals were identified as moderately
important based on times cited. CINAHL provided the most comprehensive
indexing of core journals, while MEDLINE provided the best overall coverage.
Conclusions: Occupational therapy is a multidisciplinary field with a strong core
identity and an increasingly diverse literature. Indexing has improved overall
since 1999, but gaps in the coverage are still evident.
Addresses: [Potter, Jonathan] Eastern Washington Univ, Riverpoint Campus Lib,
Spokane, WA 99210 USA
Reprint Address: Potter, J, Eastern Washington Univ, Riverpoint Campus Lib,
POB 1495, Spokane, WA 99210 USA.
E-mail Address: jpotter at ewu.edu
ISSN: 1536-5050
DOI: 10.3163/1536-5050.98.3.012
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