usability - Is there any research or data on horizontal vs. vertical navigational menus?

I've seen many sites using both horizontal (top) navigation, vertical (left) navigation, and both across web sites for a long time. My understanding is that they're both conventions, but I would assume there must be some data out there supporting one route over the other.

My question is: are any studies or data for or against horizontal or vertical navigation (as suggested above) with regards to primary navigation (specifically on a smaller site or web app).

I've read some interesting things that are flipping me back and forth between liking horizontal more than vertical and vice versa. For example if you look at Jacob Nielsen's post on Horizontal Attention Leans Left you get the feeling that more important content should be on the left -- but you could take that as it being more important for the navigation (the user's escape routes) to be in that valuable space.

Answer

I know two studies that cover this subject:

1. 
   

   Kalbach, J. and Bosenick. T. (2003). Web page layout: A comparison between left and right-justified navigation menus. Journal of Digital Information, 4(1).

   
   



2. 
   

   Kingsburg, J.R. and Andre, A.D. (2004). A comparison of three-level web menus: Navigation structures. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting.

   
   

You can find a summary of both studies in the article Navigation: Left is Best, by Dr. Bob Bailey, published in usability.gov in 2006.