Is the Year Book really necessary?

The 1980 Year Book of Dermatology was analyzed in detail. Articles were arbitrarily classified as useful, laboratory, and exotic. "Useful" was defined as mainly clinical in content or with obvious clinical relevance. "Laboratory" implied that the author was unable to understand the article because of the predominant biochemical, immunologic, histochemic, or electron-microscopic content involved. "Exotic" meant the article was about a disease that the author had never seen. Of 346 articles analyzed, 270 were found to be useful, 35 laboratory, and 41 exotic. Only 95 of 270 useful articles were in journals that the author normally reads. The Year Books of 1969, 1970, and 1979 contained 1/4, 1/3, and 2/5 useful articles, respectively. Detailed analysis of the above categories was done by subject. Many important articles were present in the literature but were not quoted in the Year Book. It is concluded that the Year Book varies from year to year in its relevance but is still essential reading. The dermatologist must nevertheless amplify it with the standard specialist and general journal; otherwise, important contributions will be missed.