A STUDY ON HOW COLEMANS BOOK ON DIFFUSION OF NEW DRUGS HAS BEEN CITEDIN SUBSEQUENT PUBLISHED ARTICLES

The author has became interested in why the book ''Medical Innovation: A Diffusion Study'' by Coleman et al. (New York, Bobbs-Merill, 1966) i s still cited in various articles even today, almost 30 years after it s publication. Accordingly, the author conducted a survey on articles which quoted his book published in 1966. The author used Science Citat ion Index, the Social Science Citation Index and the Arts & Humanities Citation Index to conduct this survey. The results of the survey sugg ested that this book has been cited in a total of 336 articles all ove r the world as of 1994. Based on these 336 articles, the author quanti tatively investigated annual changes in the number of articles citing this book, the number of articles according to subject, the number of articles according to year and subject, the areas of study in which th e book has been cited, the name of scientific journals in which this b ook has been cited, and the distribution of the nationalities of the a uthors citing this book. As a result, the author was able to draw the following conclusions : 1. The annual changes in number of articles ci ting Coleman's publications during the past 28 years first peaked in 1 971, with secondary peaks in 1979 and 1985. Although the number of art icles citing this book subsequently decreased, it has tented to increa se in recent years, again peaking in 1993, and tented to continue to i ncrease even now. 2. Coleman's book has been cited most frequently in the following four areas: medicine (72 articles, 21.4%), sociology (67 articles, 19.9%), business (48 articles, 14.3%), and medical sociolog y (20 articles, 6.0%). Articles in these areas account for about 60% o f all articles citing this book. It has also been frequently cited in articles in the field of library and information science (19 articles, 5.7%) and health policy (15 articles, 4.5%). Articles in these six ar eas have accounted for about 70% of the total. In addition, there have been citations in 12 articles in the field of psychology, 7 in pharma cology, 7 in communications and 7 in mathematical sociology. Articles in ten fields, these four and the above mentioned six, have accounted for about 80% of the total. 3. The first year the book was cited accor ding to each subject area are as followed: marketing, 1967 (the year f ollowing publication); pharmacology,sociology, and library and informa tion science, 1968; medicine, 1969; mathematical sociology, education and rural sociology, 1970; nursing, health policy and business, 1971. The initial citation of this book in eleven fields above occurred with in five years after publication. The areas in which the first citation of this book was late were geography(1978) and anthrolopology(1982). 4. The content of Coleman's study can be roughly divided into 1) diffu sion, 2) decision making and 3) communication network. His study has b een cited from different angles depending on the subject of the articl e. The diffusion and communication network angles have been cited in d iverse subject areas, while studies citing his book from the decision making angle have been limited to three subjects, medicine, health pol icy, and medical sociology. 5. Coleman has been cited in as many as 17 6 different source journals, suggesting that his publication has influ enced a broad range of studies. Judging from the journals, it seems to have been cited in journals with high standards. 6. Among the authors citing Coleman, affiliations of 278 researchers from as many as 22 co untries could be identified. Scholars in the United States and Europea n countries were found to be most interested in Coleman. Although the number of articles was small, he has also been cited by scholars from the so-called Third World, including Brazil,Nigeria, Ethiopia, India, Singapore and Korea.This study suggests that, although its value may v ary among from subject to subject, Coleman's ''Medical Innovation'' is still attracting attentions as a thought-provoking study in the field s of medicine, medical sociology, mathematical sociology and other int erdisciplinary areas throughout the world.