[French language pharmaceutical publications in 1995. I. Assessment and analysis of French language pharmaceutical periodicals].

Periodicals constitute a vital source of information and an invaluable continuing education medium to pharmacists. The aim of the present study was to compile the list of the 83 pharmacy-related periodicals published in French as at 1995 with a view to establishing their main characteristics. The first part focuses on the definition of the concept of "French language pharmaceutical periodicals" selected for the survey needed a) to be in circulation in 1995 and published at least two times a year, b) published by pharmacists or non-pharmacists but must carry articles intended to help, inform, or retrain pharmacists irrespective of their specialties (community, hospital, biological or industrial pharmacy) as well as their closest collaborators (assistants, technicians, etc.) and c) published in French. The second section presents the methodology of the survey, which consisted essentially in consulting publisher and library catalogs and direct interviews with embassies and Pharmacy Associations in French-speaking countries. Questionnaires were also sent out to editors of periodicals and the information gathered was analysed by computer. The following section reproduces the results of the the survey: These were classified into three categories: scientific, professional, and continuing education periodicals. The last section concentrates on their readership (national, international), frequency, modalities of publication, date of creation, indexing in bibliographic databases.