Researchers Read Fewer Papers

WIKIMEDIA, TULANE UNIVERSITY PUBLIC RELATIONSIn 2012, the average researcher read only 22 papers per month, or about 264 per year, according to the results of a newly published survey led by investigators from the University of Tennessee. The latest findings represent the first drop in the number of papers read since the survey was first conducted in 1977. The last time the survey was conducted, in 2005, researchers reported reading an average of 27 papers per month. The survey results, which will be published in Learned Publishing, also revealed that academics—more than 800 science and social science faculty responded—read more than half of the papers they consume on an electronic screen, a marked change from 2005 when respondents reported viewing only one-fifth of the papers they read on a screen.

“People have probably hit the limit of the time they have available to read articles,” University of Tennessee...