The sources used by bibliometrics-scientometrics as reflected in references

The aim of this study was to examine the extent to which the field of bibliometrics and scientometrics makes use of sources outside the field. The research was carried out by examining the references of articles published in Scientometrics in the course of two calendar years, 1990, 2000. The results show that in 2000, 56.9% (and 47.3% in 1990) of the references originated from three fields: scientometrics and bibliometrics; library and information science; and the sociology, history and philosophy of science. When comparing the two periods, there is also a considerable increase in journal self-citation (i.e., references to the journal Scientometrics) and in the percentage of references to journals.