Article 50 Million: an Estimate of the Number of Scholarly Articles in Existence
Research Article
Article 50 Million: An Estimate of the Number of Scholarly Articles in Existence
Arif E. Jinha
Faculty of Post-Doctoral and Graduate Studies
University of Ottawa
1
Abstract
How many scholarly research articles are there in existence? Journal articles first appeared in 1665,and the cumulative total is estimated here to pass 50 million in 2009. This sum was arrived at based on published figures for global annual output for 2006, and analyses of annual output and growth rates published in the last decade.
Introduction
From the first model of the modern journal, Le Journal des Sçavans, published in France in 1665, followed by Philosophical Transactions published by the Royal Society in London later that year[1], the number of active scholarly journal titles has increased steadily. In 2006 there were roughly 23750 titles[2]. There are direct correlations between the numbers of researchers, journals and articles[3].
Björk et al.[2] argue that changes in the dynamics of literature-based research, provoked by the communications revolution, have made the article itself relevant today as the basic molecular unit of research communication.
The correlations are revealed by studies in the past decade on global research output that have reported the growth rate and annual figures for researchers, journals and articles [3][4][5][6]. Researchers retire, but more new researchers emerge. Journals fold, but a higher number are introduced for the first time.
Changes over time in the number of active researchers and journals describe the dynamics of both publishing and research, and the increase in absolute size of active production[5] However, the article has a static nature that makes it unique as a metric. Articles, once created and published, are rarely destroyed. They can always be re-activated and through citation each article occupies a position in the architecture that researchers can continue to build upon. The article is born
Article 50 Million: An Estimate of the Number of Scholarly Articles in Existence
Arif E. Jinha
Faculty of Post-Doctoral and Graduate Studies
University of Ottawa
1
Abstract
How many scholarly research articles are there in existence? Journal articles first appeared in 1665,and the cumulative total is estimated here to pass 50 million in 2009. This sum was arrived at based on published figures for global annual output for 2006, and analyses of annual output and growth rates published in the last decade.
Introduction
From the first model of the modern journal, Le Journal des Sçavans, published in France in 1665, followed by Philosophical Transactions published by the Royal Society in London later that year[1], the number of active scholarly journal titles has increased steadily. In 2006 there were roughly 23750 titles[2]. There are direct correlations between the numbers of researchers, journals and articles[3].
Björk et al.[2] argue that changes in the dynamics of literature-based research, provoked by the communications revolution, have made the article itself relevant today as the basic molecular unit of research communication.
The correlations are revealed by studies in the past decade on global research output that have reported the growth rate and annual figures for researchers, journals and articles [3][4][5][6]. Researchers retire, but more new researchers emerge. Journals fold, but a higher number are introduced for the first time.
Changes over time in the number of active researchers and journals describe the dynamics of both publishing and research, and the increase in absolute size of active production[5] However, the article has a static nature that makes it unique as a metric. Articles, once created and published, are rarely destroyed. They can always be re-activated and through citation each article occupies a position in the architecture that researchers can continue to build upon. The article is born
References: [1] Brown, H. 1972. History and the Learned Journal. Journal of the History of Ideas 33: 365-78. [3] Mabe, M. 2003. The growth and number of journals. Serials 16: 191-197 [4] Ware, M Consulting, 2006. [5] Mabe, M. and Amin, M. 2001. Growth dynamics of scholarly and scientific journals. Scientometrics 51: 147–62 [6] Tenopir, C. W. and King, D. W. Towards Electronic Journals. Washington DC, Special Libraries Association, 2000. [7] Tenopir, C.W. and King, D.W. 2009. The growth of journals publishing. In The Future of the Academic Journal, Cope, B., and Phillips A [8] American Scientist Open Access Forum. 2009 Archives. See discussions with subject line 'Number of Scholarly Journals in the World. ' http://listserver.sigmaxi.org/sc/wa.exe?A1=ind09&L=americanscientist- open-access-forum&F=l [9] Morris, S., 2007 [10] University of Ottawa, 2009. Collections – uOttawa Library. Retrieved February 17th 2009 from http://www.biblio.uottawa.ca/content-page.php?c=abt-collections&g=en&s=biblio [11] Willinksy, J. The Access Principle. Cambridge, MA, MIT Press, 2006. [12] King, D. 2004. The Scientific Impact of Nations: What different countries get for their research spending, Nature, 430, 311-316. 10 [13] Harnad, S., 2003