Economics literature: an analysis of publication and citation patterns

The thesis is an analysis of the pattern of economics literature in three parts: first, of the total population of published and unpublished literature in economics; second, a detailed analysis of the portion of that population which is used by economists, as measured by the pattern of citations of literature in nine journals; third, a similar analysis of the references given by teaching staff at three universities to students of economics. The main aim of the thesis is to review the professional literature in its various forms, and to compare this with the use made of it by practising economists. Three cross-section analyses of citations were carried out, for the years 1950, 1960 and 1968, to determine changes which had taken place in the use of the literature over the post-War period. [Continues.]