Examination of Journal Usage in Rural Sociology Dissertations Using Citation Analysis

Our study explores journal citations from 62 doctoral dissertations in rural sociology from 2004 to 2021 at The Pennsylvania State University. A citation analysis of 7,234 journal citations identified three ranked lists: number of citations (Cit Rank), number of dissertations citing the journal (Diss Rank), and the average combined rank of citation counts and dissertation counts (CD Rank). Our study identifies 31 journal titles based on Cit Rank and Diss Rank 43 unique titles across the three ranking methods. Analysis of variance between (CD Rank and Cit Rank) is 5.51 and (CD Rank and Diss Rank) is 4.77. The average difference in range between Cit Rank and Diss Rank is 9.4. Correlation between (Cit Rank and Diss Rank) using Kendall tau b is.538 and Spearman rho.734. Correlation between (CD Rank and Cit Rank) demonstrates a stronger correlation using Kendall tau b.796 and Spearman rho.934. Correlation between (CD Rank and Diss Rank) demonstrates a stronger correlation using Kendall tau b.757 and Spearman rho.911. In sum, there is a strong correlation between CD Rank and both Cit Rank and Diss Rank. Finally our study assesses our findings organizing them into the following categories: rural studies, sociology, agriculture, development, natural resources and environment, health, demography and geography, general social sciences. The core journal title list that our research has generated will help librarians better develop and manage their collections in support of rural sociology research. The journal title list also provides an excellent starting point for researchers exploring empirical research in rural sociology.