The Characteristics of the Literature Used by Historians

Abstract

The article is based on an analysis of over 7000 references drawn from a sample of articles on English history, with the aim of discovering the nature of materials used by historians. Results suggest a high use of non-serial publications compared with serials, a significant concentration of periodical use on a few 'core' journals and a low use of materials published abroad or in foreign languages. The pattern of age distribution of references suggests that 'secondary' historical works become fairly rapidly 'obsolescent' but that the 'primary' sources for the historian retain their value over time. Comparisons of the results with those of citation analyses in other disciplines, where they could be made, suggest that history lies somewhere between the social sciences and the humanities in its patterns of literature use.