Using citation analysis to pursue a core collection of journals for communication disorders

A citation analysis from a purposive sample of two leading journals is employed to build a tentative core collection of journals in communication disorders. A core collection is defined for this study as those journals that provide 80% of the sample's article citations. The bibliometric concept of "success-breeds-success " is reviewed, and its application to this sample of journals is quantified. The special problems of defining a core collection in a multidisciplinary field are discussed. Data is also provided on the types of publications cited and the age distribution of cited journals.