Number of references in biochemistry and other fields; A case study of the Journal of Biological Chemistry throughout 1910-1985

Large samples of papers published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry in all decades and in some mid-decades werechecked in order to study the referencing pattern, throughout the period 1910-1985, in an internationally leading journal, with especially high "citation impact". All measures show that there has been a significant growth in the number of references per paper, during most of the period, but mainly from the 1950's on, refuting Meadows' "upper limit". A detailed comparison to a wide range of fields shows the JBC rates to be among the highest. Eight factors affecting the number of references are discussed, and some projections for the future are made.