Growth of research journals in India during last decade (2005-2014): an overview

Purpose The purpose of this study is to reflect a growing trend toward the introduction of new research journals in India. The study focuses on the number of journals introduced in India during the past decade, namely, for the period 2005-2014. Some of the key aspects analyzed include year-wise distribution of journals introduced, cumulative and annual corresponding growth of newly introduced journals, publishing form of journals, namely, online, print and hybrid. Some other aspects studied include distribution of journals on the basis of language, periodicity, state, etc. for both online and print journals. Design/methodology/approach To undertake the present study, data were retrieved from the official website of the National Science Library, New Delhi, and the analysis is based on the number of ISSN numbers issued by the National Science Library New Delhi during the period of study. Findings A total of 15,631 research journals were introduced in India from 2005 through 2014. Compared to 4,954 (31.69 per cent) online journals, 10,614 (67.90 per cent) print journals were introduced in India during the past decade, depicting print as the larger medium of journal publishing in India. During the period of study, research journals in India grew annually at 31.44 per cent. New Delhi, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh emerged as the three leading research journal publishing states of the country, while 82.86 per cent journals are published in English language and a maximum 32.52 per cent journals are published on a quarterly basis. Originality/value The study is first of its kind undertaken in India.

Measuring the impact: Springer Book Archives at Melbourne

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine usage trends during the first four years of the implementation of the Springer Book Archives (SBA) at the University of Melbourne. The paper assesses the benefits of the SBA against perceptions at the time of purchase and seeks to evaluate the long-term value of the purchase. Design/methodology/approach The methodology included a literature search to identify issues in the adoption of large backlists of ebooks, examination of detailed usage data supplied in COUNTER complaint spreadsheets and tables by Springer, validating findings with librarians and academics and positing next steps. Findings Usage of ebooks, like other electronic resources, is difficult to predict. Resources expected to be used, may not be and vice versa. Access to large aggregations of electronic content creates new opportunities for teaching and research, additional economies and benefits, as well as unexpected outcomes. Research limitations/implications Detailed data on user profiles were not available and an evaluation of user perceptions was not possible at this time. Originality/value The literature review suggests that this is the only published study of institutional usage of the SBA at this time.

Status and quality of open access journals in Scopus

Purpose This study aims to provide an extensive overview of OA journals’ status and quality in 27 research areas based on all Scopus-indexed journals. It shows the volume of OA journals, proportion of publications in OA journals and the quality of these journals in comparison with subscription-based counterparts. Design/methodology/approach This research investigated 22,256 active peer-reviewed journals indexed by Scopus in 2015. Data were gathered using the Journal Metrics website. The current research adopted four indicators to compare the quality of OA and non-OA journals indexed in Scopus under each subject area, namely citedness rate, CiteScore, SNIP and SJR. Findings OA journals comprised approximately 17 per cent out of the total journals indexed by Scopus in 2015. The results revealed an uneven spread of OA journals across disciplines, ranged from 5.5 to 28.7 per cent. Studying the quality of journals as measured by CiteScore, SJR SNIP leads us to the finding that, in all research areas, except for health profession and nursing, non-OA journals attain statistically significant higher average quality than do OA journals. Originality/value Although OA publishing improves the visibility of scholarly journals, this increase is not always coupled with increase in journals’ impact and quality.

Use and impact of electronic resources by information science students at Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia

Purpose This paper aims to describe the use of electronic resources and services provided at the social science library of Jimma University, Jimma. The paper is focused to find out the use of those resources by the students of information science and how frequently they are using, from where the information is accessed. Also, they have been requested about their preferences between an electronic and print journal format. Design/methodology/approach The questionnaire method is used for collecting the data from the undergraduate students of information science (2015/2016 batch). The questionnaire was distributed to 182 students, and the response rate 81.32 per cent was encouraging. Findings It has been found that the usage of e-journals is increasing; this is due to awareness among the students of information science about the e-resources and services. Owing to an easy access available at various places in the university, they are accessing these resources at hostels and departments more as compared to the library. Their visits to library have decreased. Research limitations/implications The study has been limited to Jimma University undergraduate students of information science only Practical implications It suggests for future improvised solutions. Originality/value The present paper will help other institutions to understand the need for library electronic resources and motivate them to update their resources in the larger interest of the students. The paper also indicates how a suitably designed survey can show the awareness and use of types of information services, in this case, e-journals. There is a dearth of such studies in India and abroad. The methodology and findings can be applied to other libraries to reveal similar trends, as well as comparisons.

Self-citations, a trend prevalent across subject disciplines at the global level: an overview

Purpose The present study aims to determine the prevailing trend of self-citations across 27 major subject disciplines at global level. The study also examines the aspects like percentage of self-citations in each individual subject discipline and the average number of self-citations per publication across different subject disciplines. The study also investigates self-citation percentage of research articles published from the 20 leading research countries of the world and across the continents. Design/methodology/approach The study is supported by empirical findings undertaken on secondary data retrieved from SCImago Journal and Country Ranking, which is entirely based on the SCOPUS data source (SCImago, 2014). Findings In all, 76,634,557 citations were received by as many as 14,946,975 research articles published from 2008-2012 at an average of 5.12 citations per article. Of the total citations received, 26,404,609 (34.45 per cent) were self-citations, which means that of the total citations received by each research article, 1.76 are self-citations. Compared to subject disciplines falling under social and humanistic sciences, pure and applied sciences have shown a greater trend of self-citation. On average, 4.18 self-citations were observed in each research article published in multidisciplinary subject disciplines. Of the total citations received by research articles published in the discipline of Psychology, 43.69 per cent are self-citations, the highest among all the subject disciplines under study. Of the total self-citations received by all the subject disciplines under study, 18.43 per cent were received alone in medicine, highest among all, whereas Social and Humanistic sciences received less than 1.00 per cent self-citations, the lowest among all the subject disciplines. Originality/value This study is original and first of its kind covering each individual subject discipline having global scope.