A great deal of knowledge acquired through scientific research does not get through to the people who are in a position to use them. When it does, it is often tardy. In the past, the consequences of this have been sometimes scandalous, sometimes tragic. Science grows at a prodigious rate, and the situation today is dismal, the outlook for tomorrow…

Considers the relationship of communication research to bibliometrics and scholarly communication. Discusses whether bibliometrics is a communication research method; the future of bibliometrics in communication research; bibliometrics in the context of indicator research; articles in this themed issue, seen from a communication research…