Impact of research characteristics and methodologies used in LIS articles on citation count

Abstract

Citation count is a mechanism for making scholarly impact assessments. The current study estimated the influences of publication year, authorship patterns, publishing outlets and use of methodologies on citation count. Citation analysis and content analysis are used to examine the differences between variables in the citation count. The current study used a sample of LIS articles published by Pakistani authors from 2001 to 2016. Content analysis is used to identify themes about the use of methodology. The authorship patterns, publishing channels and year of publication were quantified from the bibliometric data of articles. Citation scores were explored on Google Scholar. An independent sample t-test and an ANOVA were used for data analysis. The findings revealed that the publishing year has affected the citation count. The periods between 2001–2008 and 2013–2016 saw fewer citations for articles, while articles published from 2009 to 2012 had higher citation shares. Articles published by faculty and collaborated by two or more authors have significantly higher citations, but females have a slightly higher citation count. Articles published in impact factor journals, international journals and subscription journals have a higher citation count. Non-peer review journals have the lowest citation count. Empirical and quantitative methodology and inferential statistics have increased the citation score. Gaps in reporting methodology have reduced the citation score. Among the two types of methodological plurality, mixed-methods articles have significantly higher citations as compared to multi-methods articles. The current study is unique because it is a comprehensive analysis of the impact of social, academic and methodology factors on the citation count of entire LIS articles published from a developing country. It has identified positive and negative factors affecting citations, and these will be helpful for researchers, policymakers, institutions and journal publishers in planning quality research publishing.