British professional child care: a preliminary citation analysis

Abstract

Human services are increasingly regarded as a discrete field of study and an area of public concern. However, little work has been done outside the USA in determining the make‐up of knowledge in the field. This paper presents an initial attempt to study what constitutes the knowledge base for the child care profession in the UK. To do this the citations of five British child care journals were analysed for 1993. Reference type, country code and self‐citations of journals and authors were recorded and analysed. Comparisons were drawn with an earlier citation study of social work. The study confirmed a 1:1 relationship between books and journals and showed the diffuseness of the sources upon which child care professionals draw. Although books were the most cited category individual books were rarely cited multiply. A core of journals was identified but child care journals were only fifth in frequency of citations after books, other journals, grey literature and other child‐orientated journals. This suggests that the child care profession in the UK is outward‐looking, although almost wholly dependent on the English language. Pointers for further research are suggested.

Citation

Potter, D. and Potter, S. (1995), "British professional child care: a preliminary citation analysis", Aslib Proceedings, Vol. 47 No. 5, pp. 131-136. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb051390