ISLANDS IN THE STREAM - MAPPING THE FISHERIES AND AQUATIC SCIENCES LITERATURES

Two types of citation relationships among journals in fisheries and aq uatic sciences research were studied to identify a core journal networ k and to explore within-field journal prominence, overall subject stru cture, and communication links in this multidisciplinary area. A core list of 43 journals was extracted from the 1991 Journal Citation Repor ts for Science Citation Index based on the patterns of citations made from one journal to another. Cocitation data-counts of the number of r ecent papers citing any pair of the 43 journals-were retrieved from th e SCISEARCH database on Dialog and analyzed using cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling (MDS). Eight major journal clusters were ide ntified-fisheries (2 clusters), geophysics, oceanography, phycology, f reshwater biology, the marine environment, and marine biology. In a tw o-dimensional MDS map, the journal clusters are arranged along a subje ct continuum from the physical sciences (geophysics) through basic nat ural sciences research (marine biology) to application (fisheries). Fi sheries research is distinct from marine and freshwater biology and oc eanography but not isolated. The Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aqu atic Sciences appears to be the major link between fisheries research and marine biology.