New Journals Reflect Growing Interest In Euro, Eco, Nano, And Neuro

p.14 Editor's Note: In an effort to identify research areas that appear to be capturing an increasingly large share of attention among scientists worldwide, the newsletter Science Watch undertook a detailed analysis of the titles of scientific journals that made their publishing debuts in 1992. undertook a detailed analysis of the titles of scientific journals that made their publishing debuts in 1992. The newsletter--published by the Institute for Scientific Information in Philadelphia--discovered that approximately 30 percent of the new journals were addressed to a readership interested in the field of clinical medicine. And, by analyzing the terms used in the titles of the journals, Science Watch discovered a markedly high presence of the word "international." Does this mean that "international clinical medicine" is emerging as the matter of greatest interest for the largest number of scientific researchers throughout the world?. Not necessarily, says the news-letter's editor, David Pendlebury. However, he says, his publication's title analysis can be useful to readers in discerning "how research fields fractionate and emerge and, interestingly, how journal publishers are always poised to react to these shifts." Following is Science Watch's report, which appeared originally in the newsletter's October 1992 edition, and is presented here with the permission of Science Watch and ISI. The new journals of 1992 can be likened to newly formed planets in a vast universe. Each journal is formed from bits and pieces that were formerly floating freely but have now accumulated into a solid mass. Around each orbits a growing number of researchers seeking to observe, to probe, and to describe these new worlds. If we fly a little farther out, however, we can see that these new planets seem to cluster into groups, and the groups into regions, and regions into large structures, and so on. Such a wide-angle perspective can often show structures that a more narrow view would otherwise fail to reveal. By analyzing the new scientific, technical, and medical (STM) journals in 1992, Science Watch aimed to map the scope and shape of current trends in research. There is little consensus on what constitutes a journal, and there is no single comprehensive source on the serial literature. So, Science Watch used its own judgment in defining a journal and turned to several different sources to compile a list of the new titles in 1992. The in-house files of ISI were consulted: a listing of the journals that were sent to ISI to be evaluated for coverage in one of its products; the fall 1992 edition of R.R. Bowker's Ullrich's Plus CD; and the Oct. 1, 1992, issue of Nature--the "new journals" issue--which features abundant advertisements by journal publishers for their new offerings. Science Watch identified a total of 364 STM journals that published a Vol. 1 in 1992. WORD AND WORD-STEM FREQUENCIES OF KEY TERMS IN TITLES OF SCIENTIFIC, TECHNICAL, AND MEDICAL JOURNALS INTRODUCED IN 1992 2 bio-/biol- 21 3 comput- 17 4 eco-/ecol-/ environment- 16 5 European 15 6 system- 13 : 7 applied 12 clinic- 12 8 cancer/onco- 11 9 material- 10 micro-/nano- 10 10 agri-/agro-/hort-9 drug-/pharm- 9 food-/nutrition 9 molecular 9 11 development- 8 health 8 -image- 8 information 8 Russian 8 12 medic- 7 13 neuro- 6 14 -electro- 5 evolution- 5 intelligen- 5 natural 5 programming 5 psycho- 5 surg- 5 toxi- 5 Source: Science Watch / Institute for Scientific Information One of the accompanying tables lists the fields of research represented by these 364 new titles. Since no title was counted more than once, some difficult decisions were required to assign a journal to one area rather than another. The most populated areas in research are biological and medical, so it is of little surprise to see that, among the 1992 group, clinical medicine and biology ranked first and second, respectively. But the fields that are ranked third, fourth, and fifth--agricultural and environmental sciences; technology and applied sciences; and computer sciences--provide something of a revelation. These three seem to exhibit more growth and innovation at present than the traditional areas of the physical sciences--in particular, mathematics and physics--which appear ranked seventh and eighth. This finding recalls the results of an earlier study (Science Watch, 2[9]:1-2, October 1991), which detected a slow-to-moderate growth in the number of articles published during the last decade in mathematics and general physics. To view these data in another way, Science Watch indexed the key words and word-stems in the titles of the new journals and then ranked these terms by their frequency within the set. Some of the words that appeared five times or more seem to reflect publishers' efforts at marketing or positioning their new products ("international," "European," "Russian," for example). Others indicate trends in the substance of scientific research itself (such as "comput-," "eco/ecol-/environment-," "micro- /nano-," and "-image-"). 3 Agricultural and Environmental Sciences 63 17.3 4 Technology and Applied Sciences 39 10.7 5 Computer Sciences 33 9.1 6 Chemistry 16 4.4 6 Engineering 16 4.4 7 Mathematics 14 3.8 8 Physics 11 3.0 Science Watch / Institute for Scientific Information There is certainly a "green" look to the journals that were new in 1992. Frequent key terms in their titles include "eco-/ecol- /environment-" and "agri-/agro-/hort-." Titles represented in this group include: Molecular Ecology, Environmental Testing and Analysis, Ecotoxicology, Restoration Ecology, the Journal of Aquatic Ecosystem Health, European Journal of Agronomy, and Horttechnology. The area of computer sciences is reflected in the frequently appearing key terms "comput-," "system-," "intelligent-," and "programming-." Computer modeling and simulation is clearly a hot topic currently (for example, Computer Simulation and Modeling and ACM Transactions on Modeling and Computer Simulation). The very small seems a subject of growing interest as well, reflected in new journals with "micro-" or "nano-" in their titles. These include Microlithography World, Nanobiology, the Journal of Microelectro-mechanical Systems, and Nano- structured Materials. Imaging made a clear mark in 1992, as well. New titles in this realm of research include Image Systems, Neuro-Image, the Journal of Imaging Science and Technology, IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, Journal of Electronic Imaging, and the Journal of Mathematical Imaging and Vision. Materials research figured prominently in the new group (Smart Materials and Structures, Optical Materials, and the Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance), and some of the new titles exhibit more than one of the frequently occurring key terms identified here (Computational Materials Science and Nanostructured Materials, mentioned previously). Medicine accounted for the greatest number of new titles in 1992. Among the frequently occurring key terms with a medical slant are "clinic-," "cancer/on-co-," "health," "medic-," and "surg-," which, taken together, represent nearly 40 journals. Themes prominent among the medical and clinical group are health care quality and economics, laparoscopic surgery, cancer care and prevention, and women's health, the last reflected in such titles as the Journal of Women's Health, Breast, and Mammary Gland. It is worth noting the frequency of the term "applied" and the absence of the words "basic" or "fundamental" in the accompanying word-stem table. Perhaps this is a reflection of a new pragmatism in research and of the demand, increasingly heard, for research that can contribute to national needs. Recent geopolitical events certainly seem to be reflected in the use of the terms "European" and "Russian" (in place of "Soviet") in so many titles. Presumably, publishers believe that the European Community movement and the newly independent Russian state have created new and distinct markets for their journals. In our more global world market, "international" seems to be a favorite designation, as well. Whether science segments itself along geopolitical lines seems doubtful, but the market for journals with a geographic perspective or flavor may indeed prove viable. Among the new journals in contention for the prize for most unusual or amusing title are: European Spine Journal, which begs the question of whether Asian or North American spines deserve their own journals; the arcane Transactions of the Metal Finishers Association of India; and the International Journal of Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance, and Management, which bank customers around the world will recognize as oxymoronic. Science Watch's award, however, goes to Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments. This journal is sure to be a success, since an overwhelming demand for this title can be simulated by its publisher.

New Journals Reflect Growing Interest In Euro, Eco, Nano, And Neuro

The Scientist Staff

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