Library and Information Science Research:

Library and Information Science Research:

A Bibliometric Study of Library
Philosophy and Practice, 2006 to 2012
Haroon Idrees
Mohammad Anwar
Abstract:
Bibliometrics is a set of mathematical and statistical methods used to analyze
and measure the quantity and quality of books, articles, and other forms of publications.
This study aims at analyzing the research performance output in library and information
science research articles, published in an online journal, Library Philosophy and
Practice (LPP). This study covers the papers published during the years 2006 to 2012.
Country contributions, author collaborations, paper lengths and individual author
contributions during the period of January 2006 to June 2012 have been analyzed and
included in this paper.
Key words: Bibliometrics; Research Collaborations; Library & Information Science
(LIS) Research

Definition of Key Terms

Bibliometrics: Bibliometrics is a set of mathematical and statistical methods
used to analyze and measure the quantity and quality of books, articles, and other forms
of publications.
Collaboration: Collaboration is working with each other to do a task. It is a
recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together to realize
shared goals.
Rank: A number of persons forming a separate class in a social hierarchy or in
any graded body.
Statistical Methods: A method of analyzing or representing statistical data; a
procedure for calculating a statistic, also said as statistical procedure.1

Introduction:
According to Wikipedia1 “the term bibliometrics was derived from the two
Greek words’’ BiBlion mean book and Merton mean to measure. The term was
introduced by Alan Prichard in 1969. He also defined the bibliometric as application of
mathematics and statistical method to books and others media of communication.” 2
Thanuskodi 3 states that bibliometrics is a kind of research approach which is used in
library and information science. It is new growing area in the field of librarianship.
Most part of the world’s researchers practice this technique to clarify the authors’
contribution as well as they want to know their collaboration. Bibliometrics study uses
to explore the growth of literature in a certain subject in a region. Thanuskodi 4
described that the bibliometric education is very much close to the informetrics,

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scientometrics and webometrics. These all forms are useful to see the growth of a
particular subject, including imprint area, keywords and other similar areas. Gomez 5,
mentioned that bibliometrics provide a number of patterns to see the measurement or
formula of published research papers. It is also used to check different citations e.g.
reference citation. Thanuskodi 6, says that we are all well aware that journals are
considered the first hand information sources, and also vital medium of information
communication tools. Periodicals play a crucial part to share new development in the
different fields of study in context of research, because information is the first and
foremost wealth of any individual country to boost up their economy as well as other
development. A number of bibliometric studies on different aspects and areas of LIS
have been conducted recently. An example of such studies is Singh & Gill’s Web 2.0
Technologies in Libraries: A Survey of Periodical Literature Published by Emerald.7
This study has been conducted for a bibliometric analysis of papers appeared in
Library Philosophy and Practice (LPP), one of renowned open access online journals
of LIS, published by University of Nebraska, Lincoln, USA. The study covers all the
issues that have been published, starting from January 2006 up to June, 2012. 8

Objectives of the Study:

This study has been conducted to serve the following objectives:
 To know the research articles published from 2006 to 2012 in LPP.
 To find out the country wise contribution in the publication of research articles in
the field of library and information science during the studied period, i.e., Janu-
ary, 2006 to June, 2012.
 To identify the author collaborations during the studied period.
 To recognize the length of papers, published during the studied period.
 To explore author ranks who have published their research in LPP during the
studied period.

Research Methodology:
The issues of the online Journal, Library Philosophy and Practice (LPP) from
January, 2006 to June, 2012 have been taken into consideration for this study. Papers
appeared in the journal, during this period have been collected as data and analyzed
according to the criteria as per objectives of this study. Manual computation of statistics
has been made with the help of computer programs like MS Excel and calculator.

Literature Review:
Thanuskodi, in a research paper under the title, “library herald journal: a
bibliometrics study” has worked on the said topic. According to which, it was a distinct
period of time from 2006 to 2010. He included in the major findings or results the
research papers that had been published. He studied the authorship and subject wise
patterns as well. He studied all references of each published paper in the said journal.

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He found out a number of 138 papers that were published. The contributions of
individual author were 72 which calculates as 52.17percent and remaining research
papers were published jointly, i.e., 66 papers (47.83percent). Most of the papers were
written by Indian authors with a percentage of 89.85 and rests of the papers (10.15
percent) were from other parts of the globe. 9
Bakri and Willet wrote a paper, entitled “the Malaysian journal of library and
information science 2001-2006: a bibliometrics study appeared in the same journal.
They have studied the overall publication and citation patterns of the said journal in a
duration of six years. These two also have compared the present study to the pervious
study of Tiew et al which was way back to 2002. They saw an increase in the
publication trend. They also search out the references of all those published papers that
appeared in the said journal during that particular period of time. It was found out that
the overall growth of papers in the period of study was 161. A citation analysis was also
made in this paper. 10
Ritz, Adam and Laing in their paper, “a bibliometrics study of publication
patterns in access to medicines research in developing countries” have studied the
above mentioned topic and found out the result about the medicine selection,
intellectual property rights, monitoring and quality assurance were among the top most
studied topics over the previous decade. They searched the most highly profiled authors
are the residents of developed countries, computing 50percent of all publications, the
low income countries contributing 18percent and remaining 32percent from the
developing ones. They concluded that average number of research papers published
annually were 76. 11
These glimpses from the literature show that the bibliometric studies on
different disciplines have been conducted. These studies are useful to know research
trends, important areas of development, collaborative efforts, author ranks and alike
aspects in the relevant disciplines and particular sources. This study has conducted in
the same way emphasizing on a particular source, i.e., LPP journal and expected to be
useful for the researchers.

Data Analyses and Interpretation:

After collection of the data, it has been analyzed and interpreted statistically in
this section. Descriptively presentation has been included in order to clarify findings.
These findings will be helpful for researching and measure of the importance of
bibliometrics in the field of library and information sciences as well as exploring the
contributions made by different authors and geographical locations.
Growth of Literature: The year wise publication of the papers that have been
published in the journal (Library Philosophy and Practice), during the period that counts
six and a half years, a total number of 701 papers were published. The highest number
of papers were published in 2011, which was 201 and least number of articles were
published in the year of 2006 that was 46 in numbers. Frequency of publication of
papers from January, 2006- June 2012 has been shown in table1.

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Table-1: Growth of Literature /Publication of Articles

S. No Year Total Number of Articles Percentages
1. 2006 46 6.56
2. 2007 55 7.84
3. 2008 67 9.55
4. 2009 82 11.7
5. 2010 153 21.83
6. 2011 201 28.68
7. 2012 97 13.84
Total 701 100percent
Country wise Contributions: This section shows from 2006 to 2012 which
country contributed more research articles in the fields of library and
information science. Nigeria is the country which contributed most papers, i.e.,
330; India is at number two with 143 articles, preceding United States of
America having 104 papers and Pakistan with 42 papers. Iran is ranked number
five with a mere number of 20papers. Top 10 contributing countries have been
displayed along with their number of papers contributed in figure 1, while table
2 presents a detailed view of contributing countries. Authors of 16 papers
haven’t mentioned their country, so they have been included in others.

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Figure-1: Top10 Contributing Countries

Table-2: Contributing Countries

Country Number of Articles Percentages Rank

Nigeria 330 47.1 1

India 143 20.4 2
U.S.A 104 14.8 3
Pakistan 42 6.0 4
Iran 20 2.9 5
Malaysia 10 1.4 6
Bangladesh 9 1.3 7

Uganda 6 0.9 8

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Turkey 4 0.6 9
Ghana 3 0.4 10
Italy 2 0.3 11
Greece 2 0.3 12
Others (contributed one paper 26 3.7 13
each or the authors that haven’t
mentioned their country)
Total 701 100 14

Author collaborations: The collected data shows that the author collaboration
in their respective subject areas has increased with passage of time as a whole,
although at some points it is found decreasing. Single authored papers are
dominant in quantity with 358 papers in number that calculates 51.06percent of
total papers. Maximum number of authors is five who have collaborated for
writing up the papers during the whole period of six and a half years and it
occurred only three times. A comprehensive statistical presentation in this regard
has been given in table 3, whereas figure two represents an author wise
graphical view of the data on solo efforts by single authors compared with
collaborative efforts by multiple authors. It can be concluded by these findings
that the contribution of the authors who have been working individually is
slightly more than half of the total number papers, nevertheless, this trend
decreased with passage of time. Figure 2 shows that during the first four years,
single author papers remained in majority, but during the next years, it became
other way around and multiple author papers became in majority.

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Figure-2: Single Author Vs. Collaborative Author Appearances

Table-3: Author Collaborations

Authors 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Total Percentages

Single
Author 46 28 36 52 74 84 38 358 51.06

Two
Authors 0 19 22 21 61 82 39 244 34.80

Three
Authors 0 6 9 6 14 27 18 80 11.41

Four
Authors 0 1 0 3 3 8 1 15 2.13

Five
Authors 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 3 0.42

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Total 46 55 67 82 153 201 97 701 100

Paper Length: When we look at length of the papers, we find that most of the
papers’ length is between six to 10 pages, i.e. 343 articles; preceded 156 articles,
of which length is 11 to 15 pages. Longer papers, with a length of more than 30
pages per paper are only four in number, i.e., 0.56 percent of the total number of
papers. A complete year wise frequency distribution in this regard has been
included in table 4. Length of 30 papers could not be measured due to their
unavailability in pdf format (the journal is online).
Table-4: Paper Length in number of pages.
Paper
Length
(Pages) 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Total Percentages

1 to 5 11 10 12 21 35 18 3 110 15.69

6 to 10 20 28 40 41 82 97 35 343 49.03

11 to 15 8 6 11 11 24 58 38 156 22.25

16 to 20 4 6 1 2 6 12 4 35 4.99

21 to 30 3 2 1 1 6 6 4 23 3.28

31 to 40 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0.28

41to more 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0.28

Not Known 0 3 2 6 0 7 12 30 4.27

Total 46 55 67 82 153 201 97 701 100

Authors Ranks: Author ranks on the basis of number of their papers published
during the period of study have been determined and shown in table 5. The basic
qualifying criteria for inclusion in this table was set as publishing at least four
papers in the studied issues of the journal. According to the findings, the first
three positions have been occupied by Pakistani authors. First two ranks are

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purely held by Pakistanis Dr. Khalid Mahmood and Dr. Rubina Bhatti, with 11
and 10 papers respectively and third rank is shared by one Pakistani author Dr.
Farzana Shafique and a Nigerian, Akobundu Dike Ugah, both of whom have
published 9 papers each. The authors who have qualified in the set criteria are 17
in numbers, in which two authors have written five and nine have written four
articles each. Among these 17 authors, five (29.41 percent) are Pakistanis
preceded by Indians who are six in number (35.29 percent), which is a
remarkable distinction. It was found that 26 authors have contributed three
papers each. There were 64 authors who wrote two articles each in the said study
period. Top ten ranked authors have been displayed in Figure 3 to view them at
one glance.
Table-5: Author Ranks (Qualification: > 4 Papers)
Sr. No. Authors Publications Rank Country

1. Dr. Khalid Mahmood 11 1 Pakistan

2. Dr. Rubina Bhatti 10 2 Pakistan

3. Dr. Farzana Shafique 9 3 Pakistan

4. Akobundu Dike Ugah 9 3 Nigeria

5. S. Thanuskodi 8 4 India

6. Dr. Kanwal Ameen 6 5 Pakistan

7. Preeti Mahajan 5 6 India

8. S.dhanavandan 5 6 India

9. Manak Trivedi 4 7 India

Iran
10. Alireza Isfandyrari 4 7

11. Dr Okello Obura 4 7 Ghana

12. Daniel .c. Kupfer 4 7 U.S.A

13. Daniel Emojorho 4 7 Nigeria

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14. Adam Gambo Sakh 4 7 Nigeria

15. Dr.B.U.Kannapanvar 4 7 India

16. Devendra Kumar 4 7 India

17. Shakeel Ahmed Khan 4 7 Pakistan

Major Findings of the Study
Following are the major findings of the study:
The highest number of articles was published in year 2011, which counts 201,
whereas least number of articles was published in the year 2006, i.e., 46.
Nigeria is the country that has maximum contribution of 329 papers (46.94
percent); 2nd number is India with 143 articles (20.39 percent); USA contributed
104 papers (14.8) and Pakistan has furnished 42 papers (6 percent).
Authors who have written their papers individually are in majority, i.e., 358
(51.06 percent). During the first year of the studied period, 2006, there was no
collaborative effort and all 100 percent papers were contributed by single
authors. As far as the time passed on, collaborations were increased and during
the last three years, collaborative efforts were discovered to be in majority.
The dominant group of papers by their length ranges from 6 to 10 pages,
counting 343 (49.03percent). Four papers were found to be of a length of more
than 30 pages, two of them between 31-40 and two above 40 pages.
As much as the prolific authors are concerned, the data shows that Dr. Khalid
Mahmood from Pakistan wrote most number of articles and the 2nd highest
ranked author is Dr. Rubina Bhatti. Both of the first and second ranked authors
are from Pakistan, while at third place, there are two authors, one from Pakistan,
Dr. Farzana Shafique and the other is Nigerian, Akobundu Ugah.

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Conclusion :
The online journal library philosophy and practices does not have a long history
of publishing in the fields of library and information science, but during this
short period of time it has done wonderful job so far. The most important of its
specialties includes its free and open to all online availability, with no
subscription requirements. The only requirement to access this journal is one’s
internet connectivity with some explorer be installed.
This journal has attracted the LIS professionals, including faculty, practitioners
and students. The present indicates a wide range and quantity of papers are

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being contributed and published from all vicinities around the world. The
number of articles published during the six and half years, starting from January,
2006 up to June, 2012 are 701, with an average of almost 108 papers per annum,
which is a remarkable contribution in the literature.

References:
1. Joan, M. R. Online dictionary of library and information science. 2002 Accessed on
January 25, 2013, from http://www.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_about.aspx.
2. Wikipedia. Bibliometrics. 2010 Accessed on January 25, 2013, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliometrics.
3. Thanuskodi, S. Journal of Social Sciences: A Bibliometric Study. Journal of Social
Sciences v.24(2) 2010 p77-80.
4. Thanuskod, S. Library Herald Journal: A bibliometric study. Journal of Arts,
Science & Commerce v.2(4) 2011 p68-76.
5. Gomez, Monique. Bibliometric Study to Manage a Journal Collection in
astronomical Library: Some Results. Library and Information Services in
Astronomy v.IV 2011 p214-222.
6. Ibid.
7. Singh, K. P. & Gill, Malkeet Singh. Web 2.0 Technologies in Libraries: A Survey of
Periodical Literature Published by Emerald. Library Review, v.62 (3), 2013 p177-
198.
8. Bolin, Mary. K., ed. Library Philosophy and Practices. 2012 Accessed on
November 15, 2012, from http://unllib.unl.edu/LPP/lppissueindex.htm
9. Ibid.
10. Bakri, Aryati . & Willett, Peter. The Malaysian Journal of Library And Information
Science 2001-2006: A Bibliometric Study. Malaysian Journal of Library &
Information Science v.13 (1), 2008 p103-116.
11. Ritz, Lindsay Sarah, Adam, Taghreed & Laing. Richard. A bibliometrics study of
publication patterns in access to medicines research in developing countries.
Southern Med Review v.3 (1), 2010 p2-6.
-x-x-x-x-
Haroon Idrees, PhD
Assistant Professor of Library & Information Science
University of Sargodha, Sargodha
h.haroonidrees@gmail.com
Mohammad Anwar
Lecturer, Department of LIS,
University of Baluchistan, Quetta
mohammad.anwar76@yahoo.com

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