Women’s Studies in Malaysia: A Bibliometric Study withImplications for its Bibliographical Control

Abstract

Research activities on women in Malaysia are traced through literature produced on the topic. Descriptive statistics are derived from bibliographic data collected from two published bibliographies covering the pre 1970 and 2004 years. The results indicate a sharp increase in research activities between the years 1990 and 2004 totaling 3346 publications, averaging about 258 titles per year compared to 36 titles for the pre 1970 and 1989 years. Analyses by 12 broad subject areas indicate heavier activities in economic studies, social-cultural studies, women’s health and welfare and women in literature. The main types of publication produced are research reports in the form of final year academic reports, master dissertations and doctoral theses. Conference presentations and journal articles are equally popular. Most authors in this field are one time contributors and a total of 18 authors produced 10 or more publications each. The majority of authors work alone indicating low collaboration rate.