A standard procedure for Bradford analysis and its application to the periodical literature in systems librarianship

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a standard procedure for Bradford analysis: export citations from research databases to a bibliographic management tool, separate the desired citation fields with bibliographic output styles, and then manipulate the empirical data, formulate graph and analyze linearity with Microsoft Excel.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology mainly employed by the paper is to test the theory of Bradford's law of scattering. Based on research work and experiments, a standard procedure for Bradford analysis is to be developed.

Findings

A standard procedure for Bradford analysis is developed. The study also shows that the literature in systems librarianship follows Bradford distribution.

Originality/value

Many fields or disciplines of literature have been found to follow Bradford's law, which seems to offer a great potential promise for solving library problems. However, empirical Bradford analysis demands tedious computation, and sophisticated graphical formulation. This paper develops an easy operational procedure for Bradford analysis, which will shed light on problem solving in a similar bibliometric analysis.

Citation

Xu, F. (2011), "A standard procedure for Bradford analysis and its application to the periodical literature in systems librarianship", Library Hi Tech, Vol. 29 No. 4, pp. 751-763. https://doi.org/10.1108/07378831111189813