Asymmetry of academic output: Evaluating research distribution and collaboration in LIS faculties

Abstract

The present study investigates the asymmetrical distribution of research productivity, publication quality, and citations among faculty of Library and Information Science in central universities. Adopting a multidimensional scientometric approach, publication data and citation data were collected using Scopus bibliographical database from 120 faculty members of 22 central universities in India. The dataset was analysed using Gini coefficients, Lorenz curves, quality-based indicators (Scopus Quartile 1 and 2 publications), and collaboration dynamics. The study findings suggest asymmetry at both intra- and inter-institutional levels. Research productivity and citations was found to be highly concentrated among a small group of faculties in many universities. Although a few universities demonstrated equitable contributions, others demonstrated pronounced inequality, which was obscured by aggregate performance metrics. These findings were further substantiated by Quality-Equity Ratio (QER), which suggest that higher publication volume does not necessary predict higher quartile journal publication. Inferential statistics results confirm that national and international collaboration significantly improves the quality, quantity, and citation of the publication. Finally, the study highlights the limitations of prevailing evaluation system that is primarily based on volume and instead advocates for integrating inequality-sensitive and quality-oriented indicators into the system to enable more equitable and context-aware research assessment in LIS and higher education.