本研究利用引用文獻分析法，針對國內人文學各學科為「臺灣人文學引文索引核心」（Taiwan Humanity Citation Index，簡稱THCI Core）資料庫收錄且是國科會人文及社會科學發展處評比各學門排名最前之二種頂尖期刊，其2011年所出版的研究性文章為樣本，探討其引用文獻之資科類型、語言、年代與半衰期的分布。此外，針對各學科引用文獻在文章中的位置，例如：緒論、研究方法、結果、討論等加以比較。再者，進一步分析內容註與註中註的分布情形。所謂內容註是指針對正文內容加以註解；內容註中再引用他人文獻者則為註中註。最後，針對研究結果進行各學科的綜合歸納。本研究結果可以了解人文學學者的引用特性與資訊需求，進而應用於圖書館之館藏規劃，藉以提供研究人員完善的資訊服務。根據本研究分析結果，建議國內人文學研究者與期刊出版者統一引註格式，避免採用內容註與註中註，以方便直接且簡單的進行學術論文之閱讀與了解。此外，本研究各學科內容註與註中註之分析結果，可為引文索引資料庫（例如：THCI）建置書目資料提供相關資訊。臺灣人文學期刊論文之內容註並非參考引註，註中註則應視為參考引註。經由本研究結果應可增進對引用文獻本質的認識，並期望為未來相關實證研究提供參考。

Using informetrics and citation analysis, the present study explores and compares the characteristics and types of citations in the humanity journal articles. Research articles published in 2011, from Taiwan Humanity Citation Index (THCI) Core as well as top humanity journals, assessed by the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Science Council in Taiwan, were collected and analyzed. The analysis was done by document type, language, publication year, citation half-life, and location of citations (i.e., introduction, methodology, results and discussion sections). In addition to citations appearing in the text, the phenomena of content notes and note-within-notes will be discussed in the latter part. Content note, in this study, refers to note as illustrations for main texts, while note-within-notes refers to content-notes citing other publications. In view of citation formats and copy-editing, it is recommended that, for both domestic researchers and journal publishers, content notes and note-within-notes be avoided, based on the research outcome. A simpler layout of the text may lead to easier reading and understanding of research articles. For citation index services such as THCI Core, it is recommended that note-within-notes be included in databases as citations, to prevent authors and publications from being left out. This study is expected to provide a better understanding of the nature of citations and to serve as a foundation for future empirical studies.