Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1996 Jul;84(3):351-8.

Beyond relevance--characteristics of key papers for clinicians: an exploratory study in an academic setting

M E Sievert  1 , E J McKinin, E D Johnson, J C Reid, J A Mitchell
Affiliations

Beyond relevance--characteristics of key papers for clinicians: an exploratory study in an academic setting

M E Sievert et al. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1996 Jul.

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine what factors beyond relevance influence a clinician's decision to choose to read one journal article over another in satisfying an information need.

Design: Seventeen health care providers were interviewed and then surveyed regarding the characteristics of key articles (those they would not want to miss). On a Likert scale, the clinicians graded forty-two characteristics for importance in the decision process. Relevance was assumed and not at issue.

Setting: The study took place in an academic health science center.

Subjects: The subjects were seventeen clinicians, all with patient care responsibilities. There were four internists, four surgeons, three family practitioners, three pediatricians, two psychiatrists, and one clinical psychologist.

Results: Factors beyond relevance that most often influenced the decision process pertained to methodological rigor, authors and their institutional affiliations, document types, and population studied.

Conclusions: Among the clinicians surveyed, factors beyond topicality influenced judgments as to what constitutes an important article. The emphasis respondents gave to certain attributes is echoed in other published work and highlights the need for more intensive investigation of these non-subject indicators as search parameters. Improved searching capabilities might well lead to a significant reduction in the clinician's information overload.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Cancer. 1987 Dec 1;60(11):2811-5 - PubMed
    1. Ann Intern Med. 1990 Jan 1;112(1):78-84 - PubMed
    1. Control Clin Trials. 1988 Mar;9(1):23-31 - PubMed
    1. Ann Intern Med. 1989 Jan 15;110(2):151-60 - PubMed
    1. Ann Intern Med. 1989 Jan 15;110(2):99-100 - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources