Adverse-Reactions Literature: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

The adverse-reactions literature was examined for 5 different bibliometric traits, using the 3,040 papers reported in the FDA Clinical Experience Abstracts during 1972 and 1973. Most papers (71%) were written by 2 or more authors. Adverse-reaction words appeared in most (64%) of the titles. Almost all (99%) of the papers had drug-words in their titles. Most (62%) of the papers had 4 or fewer pages. The vast majority (91%) of papers had references; of these, the median was 11 references. A generalization was postulated: If the literature on a drug is being monitored by title searching only, most of the papers reporting adverse reactions to that drug will be obtained.