A comparison of researcher–practitioner collaborations in library and information science, education, and sociology

Abstract

This study used coauthorship analysis to investigate trends in researcher–practitioner collaborations by examining articles published between 2005 and 2014 in the disciplines of library and information science, education, and sociology. The results revealed that articles coauthored by researchers were the main type of research collaboration in these three disciplines. Articles coauthored by researchers and practitioners were the third largest type of research collaboration in all three disciplines; the percentage of such articles in library and information science (14.2%) was considerably higher than that in education (6.1%) and sociology (2.7%). A slightly decreasing trend was observed in these articles in library and information science, but a slightly increasing trend was identified in education and sociology. Regarding authorship, library and information science practitioners were more active than were education and sociology practitioners. Librarians, governmental staff, and administrators were the dominant practitioner authors of this type of article in library and information science, sociology, and education, respectively.