In issue 5.1 I wrote an editorial about our readership. Unlike print journals, we don't have a list of subscribers that will give us a definitive number of readers (not counting those who read the journals at the library, or these days, by way of an academic publications database). But we do have a wealth of information about system use that comes from the server log files. As I explained in my editorial, the analysis software I use provides a complex algorithm that extrapolates "visitors" from the information it has about "hits," "page views," and IP addresses. Taking all the technical and social factors into account, I feel confident that the analyses I perform yield a reasonable approximation of the number of people who read Kairos (although the system is much more likely to understate the values than to overstate them). Because of some technical difficulties, it has been quite some time since we were able to access and analyze the log files; but I have been able to retrieve the logs for 2003-2006 and have analyzed them to see if there is any difference in use from 2000. I was pleased to find a significant increase in readership.
In addition to the steady increase in overall readership, we've seen a shift from a primarily US audience to a much more international audience. A little over 80% of our readers come from the US, which means that about 20% come from elsewhere -- the logs have recorded visitors who hail from 190 different country codes, from Belize, Belarus, Botswana and Brazil; from Vietnam, Venezuela, and the Ukraine. And that 20% is now over 9,000 readers -- so I'd say it would be safe to consider Kairos an "international" scholarly publication venue.
| Year | Average Readers/Month |
|---|---|
| 1996 | 1,447 |
| 2000 | 8,238 |
| 2003 | 17,440 |
| 2005 | 42,656 |
| 2006* | 45,664 |
| Year | Average Readers/Day |
|---|---|
| 1996 | 47 |
| 2000 | 266 |
| 2003 | 552 |
| 2005 | 1407 |
| 2006* | 1610 |
* Through May 10, 2006