How Multilingual Is Area Studies? Citation Patterns of German Studies Scholars at American Institutions

Abstract

Academic libraries invest significant resources for developing collections of foreign-language materials, so it is important for librarians to understand how scholars use these materials. This study uses citation analysis to investigate how frequently scholars in the United States cite sources in languages other than English, taking German Studies as an example where one would expect to find multilingual scholarship. The results indicate that American scholars do incorporate foreign-language sources into their scholarly outputs, but the rate varies significantly between disciplines. Area studies collections should be developed to support discovery and use of diverse materials, including those in languages other than English.