Scientific Journals and Databases as a Source of Documentation and Transfer of Science: An Analysis of Citations of Polish Occupational Medicine Journals
Jolanta Przyłuska
Abstract
Nowadays, libraries are not only responsible for collecting and providing relevant collections, but also for managing and navigating the access to vast body of knowledge. Owing to the progress of information technology, the number of multidisciplinary bases containing information on publications from all over the world is still growing. Databases, following an analysis of citations, allow ome to trace the dissemination of a given publication among researchers and define the role of journals in an international transfer of scientific information. In the Scientific Library at the Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine in Łódź, there is a complete collection of two Polish medical journals specialized in occupational medicine: International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health (IJOMEH) published in English and Medycyna Pracy (Med Pr) published in Polish. The two journals are indexed in numerous reference databases, e.g., MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus, which has contributed to the spread of issues raised in these publications. The Scopus-based analysis of citations of articles published in both journals makes it possible to trace the transfer of medical knowledge to other scientific centers in the world.
Introduction
Current changes in the work organization of libraries, resulting from rapid progress in information technology (IT), collection of data and information distribution, pose new challenges for library circles. Modern technologies and new sources of information give a wider look at the means of making huge resources of information available. Multidisciplinary databases allow one to trace quantitative links between publications all over the world.
Nowadays, libraries are responsible not only for collecting and providing relevant collections, but also for managing and navigating the access to vast body of knowledge. Databases enriched with additional information tools provide the ground for varied quantitative analyses. Owing to the attached references, it is now feasible to investigate links between individual publications. On the other hand, citation analyses allow one to observe the development and the course of research works, and to recognize their international character.