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Copyright
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(Copyright © 1981, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences USA, Publisher SAGE Publishing) |
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Abstract
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This paper reviews the role of professional journals in transportation planning and evaluates the degree to which the literature is used. A stratified random sample of professionals in eight separate work settings was drawn and sent an extensive questionnaire on journal-reading habits, preferences for journal characteristics, and uses made of specific journals.
RESULTS show that the most popular journals (based on percentage of professionals who read them) are the Transportation Research Board Record (76 percent), National Cooperative Highway Research Program reports (57 percent), Institute of Traffic Engineers (ITE) Journal (56 percent), the Transit Journal (48 percent), and Traffic Quarterly (48 percent). But overall time spent reading is low; collectively the 17 major journals in transportation are read on the average of 7 h/month by the average professional. Reading professional literature is a low-priority activity; journals are scanned, generally on receipt, for relevant articles, which are rarely read thoroughly. The average professional sees 5.6 journals per month. The ideal journal has middle-of-the road articles that center on a balance of theory, practice, modal focus, and policy subjects. The most popular journals are those that contain such mixes and provide the professionals with general awareness and information on new practical techniques for use in their own work. The paper concludes that, if transportation professionals are not avid readers of their professional journals, they are at least avid scanners who continuously search a number of sources for relevant material. The incidence of journal use could therefore probably be substantially increased by increasing the direct relevance of the published material to the needs of the practicing professional. |