Analysis of the structure of cancer literature based on SABIR-C. III. A survey of the distribution of the world oncological publications from 1969-1974.

The great number of disciplines involving oncology and the exponential growth in the number of publications make it increasingly more difficult to keep abreast of the important oncological literature appearing in a large number of periodicals. It is, therefore, essential for the oncologist to be up to date with the journals and to read the papers relevant to his specialty. The cancer literature information system SABIR-C developed by the French and German Cancer Research Centers was created for this purpose. The present paper analyses 54496 papers published in periodicals covered by the SABIR-C system in the period from January 1969 to October 1974. The tables included contain the titles of periodicals which are of particular relevance for cancer research. They permit a quick orientation with regard to the important sources of oncological publications. These tables also assist the librarian working in a cancer research institution in selecting the most important and quantitatively most productive periodicals. This is especially important since he usually has only limited financial resources at his disposal. Further tables give a survey of the countries of origin and the categories to which the latest oncological literature belongs.