Bibliometric Analysis of Human Factors (1970-2000): A Quantitative Description of Scientific Impact

Bibliometric analyses use the citation history of scientific articles as data to measure scientific impact. This paper describes a bibliometric analysis of the 1682 papers and 2413 authors published in Human Factors from 1970 to 2000. The results show that Human Factors has substantial relative scientific influence, as measured by impact, immediacy, and half-life, exceeding the influence of comparable journals. Like other scientific disciplines, human factors research is a highly stratified activity. Most authors have published only one paper, and many papers are cited infrequently, if ever. A small number of authors account for a disproportionately large number of the papers published and citations received. However, the degree of stratification is not as extreme as in many other disciplines, possibly reflecting the diversity of the human factors discipline. A consistent trend of more authors per paper parallels a similar trend in other fields and may reflect the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of human factors research and a trend toward addressing human-technology interaction in more complex systems. Ten of the most influential papers from each of the last 3 decades illustrate trends in human factors research. Actual or potential applications of this research include considerations for the publication and distribution policy of Human Factors.