Twenty years of the Journal of Homosexuality: A bibliometric examination of the first 24 volumes, 1974-1993

This study examines and evaluates the contents of the first 24 volumes of J ournal of Homosexuality (JH), from 1974 to 1993. Data from each issue of JH , in terms of source articles and contributing authors, were collected and analyzed. JH is shown to be a scholarly journal, with high rates of citatio ns per article, high levels of author education, a prevalence of scholarly methodological approaches, and a low rate of self-citation. Articles that d isseminated the findings of empirical research noticeably decreased over ti me, while articles focusing on historical analysis noticeably increased. Th is trend was consonant with the change over time of JH's mission statement and editorial policy.