A Bibliometric Study of International Journal of Library and Information Science Dr. Lijina P. Professional Assistant Grade I School of Legal Studies Halassery Campus, Kannur University Palayad- 670661, Kerala email: lijinabyju@gmail.com Abstract - The study aims to analyse the International Journal of Library and Information Science for a period 2012 to 2017. In this study the issue wise number of articles, the authorship pattern and the degree of collaboration are analysed. The study also analysed the country and state wise contribution of articles, the length of articles on the basis of pages and the number of references. Key words: Bibliometrics, International Journal of Library and Information Science (IJLIS), Authorship pattern, Degree of collaboration Introduction Bibliometrics is the quantitative analysis of scholarly publications, intended to provide an indication of their impact on academic and public discourse (www.york.ac.uk). It is a type of research method used in library and information science. It utilizes quantitative analysis and statistics to describe patterns of publication within a given field or body of literature. Researchers may use bibliometric methods of evaluation to determine the influence of a single writer or to describe the relationship between two or more writers or works. (www.ischool.utexas.edu) The International Journal of Library and Information Science (IJLIS) is a double blind peer reviewed open access journal published by IAEME publication. It provides rapid publication of articles in all subject areas of Library Science. It is a UGC approved journal with an impact factor 8.2651 in the year 2016. Review of Related Literature International Research Journal of Library and Information Science for a period from 2011-2014 was analysed by Kashyap. The study found out that most of the issue contributed 15 Articles each. Maximum numbers of state wise contributions are from Tamil Nadu and country wise contributions are from India. Sahu conducted a bibliometric study of the journal PEARL: A Journal of Library and Information Science during the period of 2012 to 2016. The study analysed five volumes containing 20 issues. The study has found that the contributions of articles to PEARL were not only from in India but also from foreign countries. Two authored articles are found to the highest followed by single and three authored articles. The average degree of collaboration is 0.616. A bibliometric study of the journal Indian Journal of Fisheries for the period from 1999-2012 was done by Jan. The study revealed that most of the articles were more than three authored and majority of the contributions was from Kerala. Korra carried out an analysis of 1730 papers published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience for the period 2007-2016. It is 189 P a g e
found that the maximum number of publication was in 2007 and minimum in 2012 and the highest number of research papers were contributed by three authors. (Korra) Objectives To find out the issue wise distribution of articles To analyse the authorship pattern To know the state wise distribution of articles To analyse the country wise distribution of articles To study the length of the journal articles To find out the number of references Methodology International Journal of Library and Information Science is a well known peer reviewed open access journal. For the present study all issues of the journals were downloaded online from http://www.iaeme.com/ijlis/index.asp. Four papers are not available in the online issues. After downloading the articles, data were collected manually. After that tabulation was made and necessary statistics such as percentage analysis were used. Six volumes of the journal containing 18 issues have been taken up for the study. A total of 161 articles were studied for getting information regarding the number of authors, page length, number of references, etc and then analysed for making observations. Analysis and Interpretation 1. Issue wise distribution of articles Table 1 shows the issue wise distribution of the articles in International Journal of Library and Information Science from 2012-2017. Table 1: Issue wise Distribution of Articles Year Issue Article Percentage Issue No. 1 (Jan-April) 9 5.59 2012 Issue No. 2 (May-August) 4 2.48 Issue No. 1 (Jan-June) 6 3.73 2013 Issue No. 2 (July-Dec) 5 3.11 Issue No. 1 (Jan-June) 6.21 2014 Issue No. 2 (July-Dec) 9 5.59 Issue No. 1 (Jan-April) 8 4.97 2015 Issue No. 2 (May-August) 5 3.11 Issue No. 3 (Sep- Dec) 11 6.83 Issue No. 1 (Jan-April) 6.21 2016 Issue No. 2 (May-August) 13 8.07 Issue No. 3 (Sep- Dec) 17.56 2017 Issue No. 1 (Jan-Feb) 11 6.83 Issue No. 2 (March-April) 5 3.11 190 P a g e
International Journal of Library and Information Studies Issue No. 3 (May-June) Issue No. 4 (July-Aug) Issue No. 5 (Sep-Oct) Issue No. 6 (Nov-Dec) Total 18 5 4 14 15 3.11 2.48 8.7 9.32 161 0 From the Table 1, it is clear that the number of articles in each issue varies from 4 to 17. The maximum number of articles 17 (.56%) is in the Issue no.3 of 2016 and the lowest number 4 (2.48%) is in the 2nd issue of 2012 and 4th issue of 2017. There is a gradual increase in the number of articles from year 2012 to 2017. The least number of articles was published in 2013 (11 articles) and the highest number of articles was published in 2017 (54 articles). It is shown in Figure 1. Figure 1: Issue wise distribution of Articles 12 8 6 4 2 0 6.21 5.59 5.59 2.48 3.73 3.11.56 8.07 6.83 6.21 6.83 4.97 3.11 8.7 9.32 3.11 3.11 2.48 1(1) 1(2) 2(1) 2(2) 3(1) 3(2) 4(1) 4(2) 4(3) 5(1) 5(2) 5(3) 6(1) 6(2) 6(3) 6(4) 6(5) 6(6) 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 From the Figure 1 it is clear that the number of articles is high in 3rd issue of volume 5 and then in 6th issue of volume 6. 2. Cumulative distribution of articles The cumulative frequency of articles and its cumulative percentage are presented in the following Table. Table 2: Cumulative Distribution of Articles Cumulative Cumulative Year Issue Article Frequency Percentage Issue No. 1 (Jan-April) 9 9 5.59 2012 Issue No. 2 (May-August) 4 13 8.07 Issue No. 1 (Jan-June) 6 19 11.8 2013 Issue No. 2 (July-Dec) 5 24 14.91 Issue No. 1 (Jan-June) 34 21.12 2014 Issue No. 2 (July-Dec) 9 43 26.71 Issue No. 1 (Jan-April) 8 51 31.68 5 56 34.78 2015 Issue No. 2 (May-August) Issue No. 3 (Sep- Dec) 11 67 41.61 Issue No. 1 (Jan-April) 77 47.83 13 90 55.9 2016 Issue No. 2 (May-August) Issue No. 3 (Sep- Dec) 17 7 66.46 191 P a g e
Issue No. 1 (Jan-Feb) 11 118 73.29 2017 Issue No. 2 (March-April) 5 123 76.4 Issue No. 3 (May-June) 5 128 79.5 Issue No. 4 (July-Aug) 4 132 81.99 Issue No. 5 (Sep-Oct) 14 146 90.68 Issue No. 6 (Nov-Dec) 15 161 0 Total 18 161 Table 2 gives us the cumulative distribution of articles in IJLIS from 2012 to 2017 and its percentage. 3. Authorship pattern of articles The authorship pattern of articles is presented in Table 3. Table 3: Authorship Pattern of Articles No. of 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Total % authors 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 3 1 2 1 2 1 1 2 4 4 4 2 2 4 6 6 45 27.95 2 5 1 2 3 5 4 5 1 6 7 6 11 4 3 3 4 7 77 47.83 3 1 2 2 1 3 4 1 3 3 3 2 1 2 4 2 34 21.12 4 1 1 1 3 1.86 4< 1 1 2 1.24 Total 9 4 6 5 9 8 5 11 13 17 11 5 5 4 14 15 161 0 Table 3 shows that out of 161 articles, 45 articles (27.95%) are single authored, 77 articles (47.83%) have two authors and 34 articles (21.12%) were written by three authors. There are 3 articles (1.86%) written by 4 authors and 2 articles (1.24%) by more than 4 authors. The authorship pattern of articles can be clearly understood from the Figure. Near half (47.83%) of the articles are double authored. While 27.95 percent are single authored, rest of the articles are multi authored. 4. Country wise distribution of articles The country wise distribution of articles is shown in Table 4. Table 4: Country wise Distribution of Articles Country 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Total % 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 India 8 4 6 3 7 8 5 1 8 12 16 4 4 4 14 14 138 85.19 Nigeria 2 2 1 2 4 1 2 1 1 1 17.49 Bangladesh 1 1 2 1.23 Sri Lanka 1 1 0.62 UK 1 1 0.62 Saudi Arabia 1 1 0.62 Morocco 1 1 0.62 Ethiopia 1 1 0.62 Total 9 4 6 5 9 8 5 11 13 17 11 5 5 4 14 16 162 0 From the Table 4, it is clear that the country having highest contribution of articles in IJLIS is India (85.19%) and Nigeria (.49%) is in the second position. While Bangladesh contributed 2 articles (1.23%), all other countries have only one article. One article is a joint work of an Indian and a foreign author. 192 P a g e
5. State wise distribution of articles International Journal of Library and Information Studies Table 5 shows the data regarding the distribution of articles according to the state of authors. Table 5: State wise Distribution of Articles State 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Total % Tamil Nadu 22 7 24 20 23 23 119 73.91 Kerala 1 1 2 7 7 18 11.18 Karnataka 7 17.56 J&K 1 5 8 14 8.7 Puducherry 2 3 4 2 11 6.83 Pune 4 4 3 11 6.83 AP 1 3 2 5 11 6.83 WB 2 6 1 9 5.59 Gujarat 4 5 9 5.59 MP 6 2 8 4.97 Punjab 8 8 4.97 UP 7 7 4.35 Maharashtra 3 3 1.86 Delhi 2 1 3 1.86 Chhattisgarh 3 3 1.86 Telangana 2 2 1.24 Uttarakhand 2 2 1.24 Meghalaya 2 2 1.24 Assam 1 1 0.62 Total 24 12 34 32 71 85 258 The Table 5 clearly depicts that the highest number of contribution is from Tamil Nadu (73.91%). Kerala (11.18%) and Karnataka (.56%) are in the second and third position. There exists a great difference between Tamil Nadu and the rest of the states regarding the number of articles. 6. Degree of collaboration Table 6 gives information regarding the year wise degree of collaboration. Table 6: Degree of Collaboration Year Single(Ns) % Multiple (Nm) % Ns + Nm DC 2012 4 8.89 9 7.76 13 0.69 2013 3 6.67 8 6.9 11 0.73 2014 2 4.44 17 14.66 19 0.89 2015 4 8.89 20 17.24 24 0.83 2016 8 17.78 32 27.59 40 0.8 2017 24 53.33 30 25.86 54 0.56 Total 45 0 116 0 161 0.72 The degree of collaboration is calculated by the formula given by K. Subramanyam. According to that formula, DC= Degree of Collaboration Nm= Number of multi-authored papers Ns= Number of single authored papers DC=Nm/Nm+Ns Here, DC=116/45+116 =0.72 The year wise authorship pattern can be easily understood from the Figure 5. 193 P a g e
Figure 5: Year wise Authorship Pattern 60 53.33 50 40 30 20 8.89 7.76 6.676.9 14.66 4.44 8.89 17.24 17.78 27.59 25.86 Single Multiple 0 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 From the Figure it is clear that multi-authored articles are more in number than single authored, except in 2012 and 2017. 7. Issue wise Page Length of Articles The length of articles in terms of number of pages can be understood from Table 7. Table 7: Issue wise Page length of Articles Page length 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Total % 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 4 1 1 0.62 5 2 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 11 6.83 6 2 1 3 1 2 1 6.21 7 2 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 5 20 12.42 8 3 2 2 2 3 2 1 5 1 3 2 3 29 18.01 9 1 1 2 1 1 2 3 4 2 2 2 21 13.04 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 14 8.7 11 1 1 3 1 1 4 11 6.83 12 1 2 1 1 1 1 7 4.35 13 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 8 4.97 14 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 6.83 15 1 2 2 1 1 7 4.35 16 2 1 3 1.86 17 1 1 2 1.24 18 2 1 3 1.86 19 1 1 0.62 20 1 1 0.62 21 22 23 1 1 0.62 Total 9 4 4 7 9 8 5 11 13 17 11 5 5 4 14 15 161 0 Table 7 shows that 29 articles (18.01%) have 8 pages, 21 articles (13.04%) have 9 pages and 20 articles (12.42%) have 7 pages length. While 69 articles have page length of or more pages, 22 articles have only 4-6 pages length. 8. Distribution of Year wise References The number of references the articles have in each issue is presented in Table 194 P a g e
Table 8: Distribution of Year wise References Year Issue References Percentage 2012 Issue 1& 2 90 4.1 2013 Issue 1& 2 170 7.74 2014 Issue 1 & 2 275 12.53 2015 Issue 1,2 & 3 420 19.13 2016 Issue 1,2 & 3 521 23.74 2017 Issue 1,2,3,4,5 & 6 719 32.76 Total 18 2195 0 Table 8 clearly depicts that there is gradual increase in the number of references from the year 2012 to 2017. In 2012, the total number of references is only 90 (4.1%) whereas in 2017 it has increased in to a number of 719 (32.76%). The number of issues also increased from 2012 to 2017. Findings and Conclusion The present study analysed a total of 161 articles in IJLIS from 2012 to 2017. The analysis shows that the numbers of issues and articles have been increased from 2012 to 2017. Near half of the articles have double authorship pattern. The highest contribution of articles is from India and in the case of states, it is Tamil Nadu. The degree of collaboration is 0.72. The numbers of references also have been increased. On the whole it can be seen that the amount of information in this journal is increasing gradually from year to year. References 1. Kashyap, Santu Ram. A bibliometric study of International Research Journal of Library and Information Science period 2011 2014. International Journal of Library & Information Science (IJLIS), vol.6, no.5, 2017, pp.113-121. 2. Sahu, Harish Kumar. A bibliometric analysis of research contribution in Pearl: a Journal of Library and Information Science, 2012 2016. International Journal of Library & Information Science (IJLIS), vol.6, no.2, 2017, pp. 26-33. 3. Jan, Asifa. Bibliometric analysis of Indian Journal of Fisheries. International Journal of Library & Information Science (IJLIS), vol. 6, no. 3, 2017, pp.06-12. www.iaeme.com/ijlis/issues.asp?jtype=ijlis&vtype=6&itype=3. Accessed 08 February 2018. 4. Korra, Bhavosingh. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience: A bibliometric Analysis. International Journal of Library and Information Studies, vol. 7, no.1, 2017, pp. 185-190. www.ijlis.org. Accessed 13 March 2018. 5. Citation analysis and bibliometrics. University of York. 14 March 2018. www.york.ac.uk/library/info-for/researchers/citation/. 6. Bibliometrics. 14 March 2018. www.ischool.utexas.edu/~palmquis/courses/biblio.html#top. 195 P a g e