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Responses to reprint requests: form letters versus preprinted cards
A K Leung1, W L Robson, T O Siu
1Department of Paediatrics, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Journal of the National Medical Association
|March 1, 1991
Summary
Form letters slightly outperform card requests for obtaining journal article reprints. Response rates for article reprints are higher for more recent publications.
Area of Science:
- Medical publishing
- Scholarly communication
- Pediatric research
Background:
- Access to original research articles is crucial for scientific advancement.
- Reprint requests are a common method for researchers to obtain published articles.
- Understanding the efficacy of different request methods is important for efficient information retrieval.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of different methods for soliciting journal article reprints.
- To determine factors influencing the success rate of reprint requests in pediatric journals.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 994 reprint requests sent for articles published in five pediatric journals between 1985-1987.
- Comparison of response rates for requests made via form letters versus preprinted cards.
- Assessment of factors such as article recency and author reprint availability.
Main Results:
- A 64% overall reprint return rate was achieved within six months.
- Form letters yielded a 68% return rate, compared to 60% for card requests.
- More recent articles and readily available author reprints correlated with higher response rates.
Conclusions:
- Form letters are a slightly more effective method for soliciting article reprints than card requests.
- The timeliness of research articles significantly impacts the success of reprint acquisition.
- Author reprint availability is a key factor limiting successful reprint requests.