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The growth of scholarship: An online bibliometric comparison of dissertations in the sciences and humanities

Abstract

TheDissertation Abstracts database was searched online to study patterns in the growth of scholarship from 1880–1984. The total number of degrees granted per year as well as the number of degrees granted per year in the “hard” sciences, social sciences, and library science seems to be leveling off; the number in fine arts and literature has begun to decline; and the number in information science, computer science, and the health sciences continues to grow. SearchingDissertation Abstracts online offers an efficient and relatively inexpensive way to obtain quantitative data for trend analysis.

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Wood, J.B. The growth of scholarship: An online bibliometric comparison of dissertations in the sciences and humanities. Scientometrics 13, 53–62 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02095763

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02095763

Keywords

  • Social Science
  • Computer Science
  • Quantitative Data
  • Information Science
  • Trend Analysis