BIOTECHNOLOGY IN CONTEXT - A DATABASE-FILTERING APPROACH TO IDENTIFYING CORE AND PRODUCTIVE NON-CORE JOURNALS SUPPORTING MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH-AND-DEVELOPMENT

Eighty-nine journals were identified as potentially important journals supporting biotechnology R&D through the analysis of journal citation networks (1991 Journal Citation Reports). Twelve research areas emerg ed: one set of linked intercitation clusters representing the central areas of concern-biotechnology, microbiology, molecular genetics, food science and technology, and plant science. Organic chemistry and natu ral products research comprised a linked pair, while the remainder, ho rticulture, pharmaceutical science, chemical engineering, biosensors, and water research remained single clusters. Mapping and clustering of cocitation data (1988-1992 SCISEARCH) displayed a similar structure, with the clusters arranged along a basic (natural science)-applied res earch (engineering) continuum. A subject indexing profile analysis (Bi otechnology Abstracts, 1990-1992) showed that journals in pharmaceutic al science, organic chemistry, and natural products rarely if ever pub lished biotechnology-relevant research. In a productivity analysis, th e two top categories (70% coverage-12 titles; 30%-69% coverage-14 titl es) included 10 journals not classed as biotechnology by Journal Citat ion Reports. One of these, Plant Cell Reports (88% coverage), has not been listed as a biotechnology journal in any previous core lists. Thi s database filtering approach, combining citation, indexing, and produ ctivity analyses, is an effective tool for identifying important non-c ore journals supporting multidisciplinary R&D.