Documentary analysis of research productivity in the literature related to individuals with disabilities and exercise physiology

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to define the characteristics of the body of literature related to individuals with disabilities (regardless of age) and exercise physiology over the last 24.5 years; and (b) to identify a core set of journals (as determined by the Bradford Distribution) that has had the greatest impact on the scholarly field indicated. The methods included documentary analysis based on citation productivity counts from three online bibliographic databases (ERIC, Medline, and SPORTDiscus). The counts identified for the research period of January 1990 to June 1999 were further analyzed for the presence of a Bradford distribution. Based on the results of the productivity counts, Medline was identified as the most prolific database and Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise was the most prolific journal. The disability categories Other Health Impaired and Orthopedic Impairment, had the greatest number of citations across databases. Cardiovascular Disease and Obesity were the individual disabilities that received the greatest number of citations, where as Cardiovascular and Body Composition were the exercise physiology topics found most prevalent. The identified body of literature was found to be database and disability specific. The literature identified from January 1990 to June 1999 followed a Bradford distribution and a core set of journals was identified.