Research publications of Australia's natural history museums, 1981-2020: Enduring relevance in a changing world.

ABSTRACT: As a case study of the responses of natural history museums to changing scientific and funding environments, we analysed research publications of Australia's Natural History Museums (ANHMs) 1981-2020. Using Scopus, 9,923 relevant documents 1981-2020 were identified, mainly research papers but with a growing proportion of reviews. The number of documents published increased over tenfold from 39 (1981) to 553 (2020), likely driven by collaborations (rising from 28.5% of documents 1981-1985 to 87.2% of documents 2016-2020), contributions from retired staff, and volunteer support. The mean length of documents (pages) ranged from a low of 15.3 in 2001-2005 to a high of 17.4 in 1991-1995, but this statistically significant result was trivial in practical terms. The sources (i.e., journals, book

SUBMITTER: Green TA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10289469 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature