PERIODICAL DISPERSION IN AMERICAN HISTORY - OBSERVATIONS ON ARTICLE BIBLIOGRAPHIES FROM THE JOURNAL-OF-AMERICAN-HISTORY

Journals play a significant role in the dissemination of historical sc holarship. The present study seeks to learn more about this type of li terature by examining the contents of article bibliographies published quarterly in the Journal of American History, one of the prominent hi storical journals in the United States. Through a simple citation tech nique the titles of the most prominent journals were identified. The a uthors also investigated how these journals reflected the changes in h istorical scholarship during the 1980s. The results of the study sugge st possible trends in recent historical research and should be useful for both persons responsible for collection development in the area of history, as well as for practicing historians.