A comparison of Q Index Ranked Journals: Library and information Science productivity and research trends (2011-2020)

• Published in: Pakistan journal of library & information science : PJLIS Vol. 24; pp. 112 - 146
• Main Authors: Qutab, Saima, Siddique, Nadeem, Khan, Muhammad Ajmal, Ullah, Farasat Shafi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; German
• Published: Lahore University of Punjab Lahore 31.12.2022
• Subjects: Academic disciplines; Author productivity; Bibliometrics; Citations; Collaboration; Competition; Competitive advantage; Impact factors; Information literacy; Libraries; Library and information science; Publishing; R&D; Research & development; Research methodology; Researchers; Science; Social networks; Trends
• ISSN: 2409-7462
• DOI: 10.47657/5695

Publishing in the prestigious research avenues is considerable important for the researchers and academicians. However, selecting the right journal to suit the research topic and quality of research is a tiresome task. Studying the nature of the research published in differently ranked journals is important to understand the difference of research and publication trends. This study aims to examine a differences and similarities of the research published in the Q1 and Q4 ranked Library and Information Science (LIS). A total 21,437 documents were selected from WoS Q1 and Q4 category LIS journals for this study. Then the data of Q1 and Q4 journals was separately accessed, analyzed and compared with different tool including MS Access, MS Excel, Gaphi, Biblioshiny, and VOS Viewer software. We found significant differences in the LIS research themes and publication trends between the Q1 and Q4 category publications. The Q1 journals are publishing on emerging bibliometrics, technology related topics like social media, information systems, machine learning etc., innovating practices and research. While, Q4 journals mostly publish about academic libraries, information seeking, literacy and behavioral research. Topical evaluation reveled citation analysis, bibliometrics, social media, innovation and collaboration as emerging topics in both Q1 and Q4 category journals but differ in terms of total publications order.