Potter, J. 2010. Mapping the literature of occupational therapy: an update. JOURNAL OF THE MEDICAL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 98 (3): 235-242

[Eugene Garfield]

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