Obsolescence of American and French Agronomic Literatures

Abstract

The obsolescence patterns of American and French agronomic literatures are studied for the two periods I952 and I972 using citation data from the major American and French agronomic journals. The following hypotheses are tested statistically: (a) that the citations contained in the I952 journals were distributed by age in the same way as those in the I972 journals, and (b) that the distribution by age of citations by American agronomists does not differ from the distribution of citations by French agronomists. The Annual Ageing Factor, the Median or Half-life, the Mean Life, and the Utility Factor are calculated for both the American and French literatures and for both periods. The results are discussed in terms of obsolescence as a general phenomenon of subject literatures.