This study attempted to analyze research trends in academic journals on aesthetics listed on the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) and suggest basic data for studies on aesthetics. To examine research trends in aesthetics-related journals, 2...
This study attempted to analyze research trends in academic journals on aesthetics listed on the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) and suggest basic data for studies on aesthetics. To examine research trends in aesthetics-related journals, 28 volumes from the Journal of the Korean Society for Aesthetics and Cosmetology, 32 volumes from the Korean Society of Cosmetology and 24 volumes from the Journal of the Korean Society of Beauty and Art from 2009 to 2014 were investigated. The research trends of a total of 512 papers (skin-related: 272, aesthetic care-related: 24) out of 1,833 papers were analyzed by journal, year, topic and research method. Then, the study results found the followings:
First, according to analysis on research trends by journal, the 4th edition (2010) of the Journal of the Korean Society for Aesthetics and Cosmetology recorded the largest number of papers with 37. In terms of the number of skin-related papers, the 4th edition (2014) was the highest with 12 (44%). In esthetic care-related papers, the 2nd edition (2010) was the largest with 11 (44%). In the Journal of the Korean Society of Cosmetology, the 3rd and 4th editions (2009) revealed the largest number of cosmetology-related papers with 40 each. In terms of the number of skin-related papers, the 3rd edition (2009) was the highest with 8 (20%). In esthetic care-related papers, the 3rd edition (2012) was the largest with 6 (23%). In the Journal of the Korean Society of Beauty Art, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th editions (2013) and 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th editions (2014) recorded the largest number of cosmetology-related papers with 18 each. In terms of the number of skin-related papers, the 4th edition (2013) was the highest with 4 (22%). In esthetic care-related papers, the 1st edition (2014) was the largest with 5 (28%).
Second, according to analysis on research trends by year, in 2009, the Journal of the Korean Society of Cosmetology recorded the largest number of papers with 144. In terms of the number of skin-related papers, the Journal of the Korean Society of Cosmetology was the highest with 24 (16.7%). In esthetic care-related papers, the Journal of the Korean Society for Aesthetics and Cosmetology was the largest with 20 (22.2%). In 2010, the Journal of the Korean Society of Cosmetology recorded the largest number of cosmetology-related papers with 126. The Journal of the Korean Society for Aesthetics and Cosmetology revealed the highest number of skin-related and esthetic care-related papers with 24 (21.2%) and 34 (30.1%) respectively. In 2011, the Journal of the Korean Society of Cosmetology recorded the largest number of cosmetology-related papers with 123. The Journal of the Korean Society for Aesthetics and Cosmetology revealed the highest number of skin-related and esthetic care-related papers with 19 (21.6%) and 12 (13.6%) respectively. In 2012, the Journal of the Korean Society of Cosmetology recorded the largest number of cosmetology-related papers with 162. The Journal of the Korean Society for Aesthetics and Cosmetology revealed the highest number of skin-related and esthetic care-related papers with 29 (25.4%) and 24 (21.1%) respectively. In 2013, the Journal of the Korean Society for Aesthetics and Cosmetology recorded the largest number of cosmetology-related papers with 138. The Journal of the Korean Society for Aesthetics and Cosmetology revealed the highest number of skin-related and esthetic care-related papers with 40 (29.0%) and 18 (13.0%) respectively. In 2014, the Journal of the Korean Society of Cosmetology recorded the largest number of cosmetology-related papers with 125. The Journal of the Korean Society for Aesthetics and Cosmetology revealed the highest number of skin-related and esthetic care-related papers with 18 (15.5%) and 17 (14.7%) respectively. In 2012, the largest number of papers (335) was published in the said three journals. In terms of the number of skin-related and esthetic care-related papers by year, ‘2013’ and ‘2010’ were the highest with 60 (18.3%) and 53 (17.8%) respectively.
Third, according to analysis on research trends by topic, in skin-related papers, ‘skin care-related papers’ were the highest with 62 (42.8%) in terms of the number of papers published in the Journal of the Korean Society for Aesthetics and Cosmetology while ‘skin condition-related papers’ were the highest with 36 (37.9%) in the Journal of the Korean Society of Cosmetology. In the Journal of the Korean Society of Beauty and Art, ‘skin care-related papers’ were the largest with 10 (31.2%). In aesthetic care-related papers, ‘facial care-related papers’ were the highest with 39 (31.2%) in terms of the number of papers published in the Journal of the Korean Society for Aesthetics and Cosmetology while ‘massage-related papers’ were the highest with 31 (35.2%) in the Journal of the Korean Society of Cosmetology. In the Journal of the Korean Society of Beauty and Art, ‘massage-related papers’ were the highest with 11 (40.7%). According to analysis on the specific topics of skin care-related papers, in addition, ‘tangible & clinical’ was the highest with 39 (62.9%) in terms of the number of papers published in the Journal of the Korean Society for Aesthetics and Cosmetology while ‘health & food’ was the highest with 10 (38.5%) in the Journal of the Korean Society of Cosmetology. In the Journal of the Korean Society of Beauty and Art, ‘tangible & clinical’ was the highest with 6 (60.0%).
Fourth, according to analysis on research trends by research method, ‘experiment & research’ was the highest with 68 (46.9%) in terms of the number of papers published in the Journal of the Korean Society for Aesthetics and Cosmetology. In the Journal of the Korean Society of Cosmetology, ‘experiment’ and ‘survey’ were the highest with 45 (47.4%) and 44 (46.3%) respectively. In the Journal of the Korean Society of Beauty and Art, ‘survey’ was the highest with 20 (62.5%).
In conclusion, the Journal of the Korean Society of Cosmetology was the highest with 802 papers in terms of the number of cosmetology-related papers published while the Journal of the Korean Society for Aesthetics and Cosmetology was the highest with 270 papers in terms of the number of aesthetics-related papers. This paper has limited research subjects by investigating skin-related research trends for the past six years since the launching of National Technical License for Cosmetology (Skin). Therefore, there is a necessity to investigate research trends since the founding of the cosmetology-related journals. Furthermore, there should be further studies on other beauty fields such as hair, makeup and nail care.