Information use and transfer by British and French scientists: A study of two groups

Abstract

Scientists employed at two state-aided agricultural research institutes were interviewed to see what national differences exist between workers in the same field (the endocrinology and biochemistry of lactation and reproduction). Bibliometric analyses were made of publications by past and present members of both groups from 1958 to 1980. Data were also obtained on the facilities available. Journals named in interviews and cited in publications by both groups are predominantly English-language and 71% of the papers published by the French group from 1976 to 1980 were in English. Differences between the groups include more frequent publication abroad by the French (68%) than the British (27%), frequency of citation of recent references (20% of the British and 33% of the French citations were less than 3 years old) and membership of scientific societies (average 3 per scientist for the British, < 1 for the French). It is concluded that access to facilities, national tradition, size of a country's scientific community and political events influence information use and transfer.