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Let us consider, then, some general conclusions that may be drawn from the findings reported in this study. The data allow us to question the view stated by Ortega, Florey, and others that large numbers of average scientists contribute substantially to the advance of science through their research. It seems, rather, that a relatively small number of physicists produce work that becomes the base for future discoveries in physics. We have found that even papers of relatively minor significance have used to a disproportionate degree the work of the eminent scientists. Although the conclusions of this paper may be reasonably clear, the implications of these data for the structure of scientific activity, at least in physics, need careful consideration.

Citation analysis provides a tool for the evaluation of the relative importance of journals as well as papers. A publication, the ISI Journal Citation Reports, is issued primarily to permit users to make such evaluations by answering the basic questions: How often has a journal been cited? What journals have cited it and how frequently? What journals has it cited and how frequently? These data have been conditioned by the inclusion of a `relative impact factor' to give additional weight to the significance of the articles it publishes. The information thus developed is particularly attractive to librarians, journal editors and publishers, individual scientists, and science policy-makers.

The interrelationships of the branches of the sciences and technology are analyzed by means of linkages derived from the listing of journals under more than one subject category in the list “Source Journals Arranged by Category” from the Science Citation Index®–1970. These subject categories are then grouped together on the basis of the Dewey Decimal Classification in order that the broader fields of science and technology might also be analyzed. Both the nature and the strength of the linkages are considered. It is concluded that both intuitively and in comparison with a previous paper on the subject in which the data was derived by means of citation analysis the findings are of sufficient validity and interest to warrant further investigation using a more precisely constructed subject category listing. Implications are seen for collection development and for collection organization and classification in libraries and other information centers concerned with the subject areas of science and technology.

Several forms of citation index were compiled with the aid of punched card techniques from 11,000 citations appearing in a coherent body of scientific literature which contained more than 740 citing papers. Preliminary statistics on citation patterns are given. The potential uses of various types of citation indexes are discussed and are related to problems in recording and standardizing data.