Bradford distributions of social-science bibliographies varying in definitional homogeneity

Six social-science bibliographies were ranked along a complex ordinal dimension of the “homogeneity” of (1) the defining criteria for including items in a bibliography or (2) the disciplinary source(s) of the literature. The most homogeneous bibliography exhibited the classic linearity of the graphic form of Bradford's Law, but the most heterogeneous bibliographies exhibited concavity in their graphic display. The lower the overall article/journal density in a bibliography, the greater the curvature (concavity) of its Bradford plot. Results were discussed in relation to the generalizability of Bradford's Law and to differences between scholarly practices in the social and natural sciences.

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