An article not reviewed by Craig et. al. is Gregory K Youngen's
"Citation Patterns to traditional and electronic preprints in the
published literature" in College and Research Libraries Volume: 59
Issue: 5 (September 1998) Pages: 448-
http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crljournal/backissues1998b/septembe
r98/youngen.pdf
It examines citations to e-prints provided by authors before the
official version of an article in the fields of physics and astronomy.
He says: "Citations to e-prints nearly doubled every year since their
introduction in 1992."
Early provision of e-prints led to their citation in fields where rapid
communication and timeliness were critical. The doubling rate for
e-print citations was 12 months.
That's what the first 5 years of this revolution looked like--where are
we now?
Chuck Hamaker
Associate University Librarian Collections and Technical Services
Atkins Library
University of North Carolina Charlotte
Charlotte, NC 28223
phone 704 687-2825
Received on Mon May 21 2007 - 21:24:20 BST