Open access LIS periodicals and digital archives. An evaluation with reference to Asian countries
| Date | 30 September 2014 |
| Pages | 710-725 |
| Published date | 30 September 2014 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/EL-09-2012-0120 |
| Author | Neena Singh,Anil Chikate |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library technology |
Open access LIS periodicals and
digital archives
An evaluation with reference to Asian
countries
Neena Singh
College of Forestry and Hill Agriculture, G B Pant University of
Agriculture and Technology, Tehri, India, and
Anil Chikate
North Maharastra University Jalgaon, Mahrastra, India
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report results of a study which investigated the growth of
open access (OA) journals across the world with reference to the Asian region. Details of 117 OA
journals were collected from the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) to determine the geographic
distribution, language of publication and growth of periodical year-wise. The study makes detail
analysis of four OA periodical published from India, Iran, Pakistan and Taiwan. Pattern of authorship
and contribution according to nature of professional work were analyzed. The study reveals that most
contributions were made by teaching professionals in comparison to working library and information
ofcers. Single-authored contributions dominated (44 per cent) in all periodicals of the Asian region,
indicating low amount of teamwork/collaborative contributions to library and information science (LIS)
research by the authors of this region. To know the subject distribution of articles, the study was limited
to 27 subelds within the broad spectrum of LIS. Annals of Library and Information Sciences (ALIS)
published in India carried the highest number of articles (165) followed by Journal of Library and
Information Sciences (JLIS) from Taiwan. The ndings of the study also indicate that there is varied
distribution of topics within the Asian LIS literature published in OA journals. Most popular areas of
writing among authors in OA journals have been found to be bibliometics, webometrics, research
productivity or research methods besides information seeking pattern, information need of users and
digital libraries.
Design/methodology/approach – To gather data for the present investigation, survey of OA
e-journals was made across the Web. The collection of data from OA journals and content was
accompanied by searching the DOAJ. After selecting the OA journals, these were analyzed using
the descriptions on their content page and key words chosen from each contribution. Selection of
additional key words, i.e. words not in the title, was also made. Analysis of this data is discussed
in this paper.
Findings – OA removes restrictions that exist on access to scholarly information and knowledge, it
empowers the readers to read, download, distribute and make use of relevant literature, besides giving
authors and their work fairly good visibility, readership and impact. The OA movement is gaining
importance and the scholarly community is now realizing that tolled or subscribed access is creating a
barrier and preventing their work from wider accessibility and readership. A number of journals across
the world are now being published in OA mode. The present study attempts to map the growth of LIS
literature in OA journals with special reference to periodicals published from Asian countries. The
nding of this sample study suggests that many counties are promoting OA journals. While USA ranks
rst in publication of OA journals in the world. Taiwan publishes the highest number of articles in Asia.
Majority of OA journals are published in English, and English appears to be most popular language for
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0264-0473.htm
EL
32,5
710
Received 24 September 2012
Revised 20 November 2012
Accepted 3 December 2012
The Electronic Library
Vol. 32 No. 5, 2014
pp. 710-725
© Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0264-0473
DOI 10.1108/EL-09-2012-0120
communicating research information. Of the four OA LIS journals analyzed in detail, it is observed that
single-authored contributions are most popular. Collaborative contributions to LIS research were not so
evident among authors of the Asian community. The teaching professionals or LIS teachers contributed
the greatest number of articles, except for the Indian journal ALIS, demonstrating that working
professional are more actively involved in writing and they outnumber the teaching community.
Contributions from research students in all OA journals have been fairly signicant. Research students
may be encouraged to publish their master’s and doctoral research work in OA periodicals for better
visibility, readership and impact. The study further reveals that ALIS from India and JLIS from Taiwan
carried the highest number of articles. While areas like bibliometrics, webometrics and e-resources and
OA are most popular areas of writing among Indian authors, information-seeking pattern, information
need, digital and virtual libraries have been popular among authors from Taiwan. Webology from Iran
has predominant articles on Web study or evaluation and social networking. Universities and LIS need
to come forward to take a need-based approach to LIS research, suggesting ways for improving existing
LIS services in their respective countries. To get the correct picture of growth of OA journals in the
Asian region, more exhaustive and extensive study may be required. Researchers interested to carry
further investigation will have to adopt appropriate measures to overcome the limitations mentioned in
the study, for example, the source of data DOAJ may not be very extensive to give correct picture of OA
journals. It is likely that some journals may not have been included in this directory. Researchers
interested to carry further investigations will have to adopt appropriate measures to overcome these
constraints.
Research limitations/implications – Scope and limitation access to data and timely completion
are the two vital factors for the success and accomplishment of the objectives of any investigation.
Hence, considering the vast range of literature from every geographical region and limited time to
complete research, the present study adhered to the following limitations. The study covers in its scope
literature published in the period of ve years (accessed from March 28 to May 25, 2011, only). The study
includes only those publications/journals contributed by authors in English. The study includes four
OA journals having full-text articles in English, abstracts not included. It considers those publications
primarily inclined and relevant to library and information services. The study includes only those OA
LIS journals listed or included in DOAJ.
Originality/value – The present study has been taken with view to analyze the growth of OA journals
in LIS with special reference to Asian countries. While several studies have been conducted on growth
and publishing of traditional LIS journals, the present study is perhaps an interesting attempt to make
a comprehensive review of the phenomena. The nding of the recent study will be of interest to many
LIS professionals, researchers and academicians as it demonstrate the growth of OA journals.
Keywords Electronic journals, Open access LIS periodicals, LIS e-journals,
Mapping open access LIS periodicals, Open access – Asia
Paper type Case study
Introduction
Technological advances in information and communication technology has made
unprecedented changes in ow and content of information. Web publication and online
access paved the way for faster access to a variety of information. Scholarly
communication and electronic resources are emerging as indispensable channels for the
research community. Information today is being created much more rapidly and almost
doubling itself every two years. By 2020, the world will generate 50 times the amount of
information and 75 times the number of information containers or les (Gratz and
Reinsel, 2011). However, the plethora of information available across various channels
and the digital cosmos does not necessarily guarantee accessibility. According to Swan
(2008), availability does not equal accessibility. The top concern for researchers is that
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Open access LIS
periodicals and
digital archives
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