Effects of gender in library and information science research. A case study of The Electronic Library
| Pages | 488-503 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/EL-08-2014-0126 |
| Date | 06 June 2016 |
| Published date | 06 June 2016 |
| Author | Sumeer Gul,Tariq Ahmad Shah,Samir N. Hamade,Rabiya Mushtaq,Ikrah Koul |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
Effects of gender in library and
information science research
A case study of The Electronic Library
Sumeer Gul
Department of Library and Information Science, University of Kashmir,
Srinagar, India
Tariq Ahmad Shah
Central Library, Islamic University of Science and Technology,
Awantipora, India
Samir N. Hamade
Department of Library and Information Science, Kuwait University,
Kaifan, Kuwait, and
Rabiya Mushtaq and Ikrah Koul
Department of Library and Information Science, University of Kashmir,
Srinagar, India
Abstract
Purpose – This study aims to showcase the effect of gender in the eld of library and information science.
Design/methodology/approach – Research and review articles published from 2005 through 2014 in
The Electronic Library, a prominent journal in the eld of Library and Information Science, were examined
from the perspective of authors’ gender. Inuence of gender was assessed with respect to at individual and
collaborative levels, quality in terms of citedness and citation count, and receipt of research grants.
Findings – There has been an increase in the proportion of male authors over the years with a resulting
decline in female authors. Male authors are more productive as teachers, while females contribute more as
working professionals or while they peruse their academic/research programmes. Though the productivity
in collaborative works has increased in all gender combinations, it is more prominent when authors of
opposite gender team up. No signicant difference is observed in the number of national or international
works produced in different collaborative authorship patterns. There is no difference in the number of male
and female authors in male–female collaborative works. Works sponsored by grants are produced more
frequently in groups comprising male–female or male–male members. No signicant difference is observed
in the number of cited or uncited works produced in different authorship patterns. The number of citations to
works is independent of the nature of gender-wise authorship patterns.
Research limitations/implications – The study examines the status of women in research,
specically in the eld of library and information science. The ndings of the study are based on the
contribution of the authors involved with the journal, “The Electronic Library”. Readers are encouraged to
expand the study by including authors that contribute to other library and information science journals.
Originality/value – The study is rst of its kind to highlight the involvement and observe the
inuence of female authors in the eld of library and information science research.
Keywords Gender diversity, Scholarly publishing, Research funding by genders,
Scholarly performance, The Electronic Library, Female authors, Male authors
Paper type Research paper
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0264-0473.htm
EL
34,3
488
Received 2 August 2014
Revised 3 February 2015
2 May 2015
8 June 2015
Accepted 21 June 2015
TheElectronic Library
Vol.34 No. 3, 2016
pp.488-503
©Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0264-0473
DOI 10.1108/EL-08-2014-0126
Introduction
Research is under continuous pressure to become more relevant to society (Nightingale
and Scott, 2007) and experiences a number of obstacles, such as geographical barriers,
time constraints, language restrictions, limited nancial resources and many more.
Gender is also an obstacle, particularly for females in academic work, an area which has
been dominated by men for a long time (Van Arensbergen et al., 2012). Over the years,
the existence of gender parity in academic research has resulted in low contributions
from females compared to males (Barnett et al., 1998;Carr et al., 1998;Ritchie, 2009;
Schroen et al., 2004). Gender bias is not localised to a particular part of the world but is
prevalent in all societies of the world (Baro et al., 2009). Studies have indicated that many
talented females are not able to realize their full potential because of internal barriers,
such as personal priorities (Reis, 1998).
The causes of gender bias are difcult to understand and are related to gender
relationships in many different parts of the world (Kretschmer et al., 2012). Although
gender equality is a pressing policy issue in higher education (Jacobs and Winslow,
2004;London et al., 2012;Long et al., 1993;Mayer and Tikka, 2008;Miller et al., 2005;
Rama et al., 1997;Van Den et al., 2006;Wolnger et al., 2009) and there is growing
participation of women in research and academic activities in the western world,
equality across genders has yet to be achieved (Mendlowicz et al., 2010).
Research productivity is an important component of the academic advancement
process (Tomei et al., 2014) and is reective of the publication output from an
individual, institution or nation. Publication output is usually considered to be the
number of books or book chapters, journal articles, conference/workshop
proceedings and other related publications, such as bibliographies, abstracts and
indexes published (Edem, 2004). There are many ways to check for the existence of
gender diversity in scientic elds and one of them is bibliometrics which is the
study of the use of documents and patterns of publication in which mathematical
and statistical methods are applied (British Standard Institute, 1976), or may also be
a quantitative study of physical published units or of bibliographic units or the
surrogates of either (Broadus, 1987).
Statement of the problem
Participation of women researchers in the eld of library and information science (LIS)
is examined through an analysis of The Electronic Library, a prominent LIS publication.
An attempt is made to understand the inuence of author gender, if any, on their
productivity, work quality, collaboration and grant awards.
About the journal
The Electronic Library showcases the most up-to-date research and on-going
developments in today’s digital libraries, museums, and related information
environments worldwide. The journal is particularly focused on exploring, applying,
and evaluating new theories and technologies to create better digital libraries and
enhanced library services. Topics covered include automation, digitization, user
interfaces, networks, information centres, hardware and software development, and
technology (The Electronic Library, 2015).
The journal had an impact factor of 0.228 in 2013 and a ve-year impact factor of
0.381. It is indexed and abstracted in renowned databases including ISI and SCOPUS
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Library and
information
science
research
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