BEYOND RELEVANCE - CHARACTERISTICS OF KEY PAPERS FOR CLINICIAN - AN EXPLORATORY-STUDY IN AN ACADEMIC SETTING

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine what factors bey ond relevance influence a clinician's decision to choose to read one j ournal article over another in satisfying an information need. Design: Seventeen health care providers were interviewed and then surveyed re garding the characteristics of key articles (those they would not want to miss). On a Likert scale, the clinicians graded forty-two characte ristics for importance in the decision process. Relevance was assumed and not at issue. Setting: The study took place in an academic health sciences center. Subjects: The subjects were seventeen clinicians, all with patient care responsibilities. There were four internists, four surgeons, three family practitioners, three pediatricians, two psychia trists, and one clinical psychologist. Results: Factors beyond relevan ce that most often influenced the decision process pertained to method ological rigor, authors and their institutional affiliations, document types, and population studied. Conclusions: Among the clinicians surv eyed, factors beyond topicality influenced judgments as to what consti tutes an important article. The emphasis respondents gave to certain a ttributes is echoed in other published work and highlights the need fo r more intensive investigation of these non-subject indicators as sear ch parameters. Improved searching capabilities might well lead to a si gnificant reduction in the clinician's information overload.