ABSTRACT
At the time of their election to the National Academy of Sciences, a substantial number of academicians appear to be undergoing a transformation of their publication pattern. Their original research papers appear less frequently in the literature, and are generally found within a contracting assortment of journals. While most academy members who had specially sponsored papers accepted into the Proceedings before election, increase their output within that journal after election, ready access to the journal is not the cause of the decrease in the overall assortment. Rather, at this stage of their career, many academicians are assuming a senior scientist’s role. For some senior scientists this means that the composition of long, critical, overviews of their fields becomes more important than sustaining their customary high production of original research papers. Other senior scientists assist the careers of younger scientists by sponsoring their papers in the Proceedings. Variations in this career adjustment pattern are minor from class year to class year of newly elected academicians. By contrast, the pattern of biomedical academicians differs from that of math and physical sciences academicians in a number of ways significant for library collection management.
