Institutional repositories: a bibliometric study of the social sciences citation index (SSCI)

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to provide a bibliometric study of journal articles related to institutional repositories in the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) between January 1993 and August 2017. This study will provide researchers with a foundation for further research.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, articles published were analyzed; titles were searched using the term “institutional repositories.” The data were evaluated in response to four research questions on the following topics: publication trends, prolific authors, core journals and times cited.FindingsThe results indicate that 124 articles on institutional repositories were authored by 223 individuals. These articles were cited 722 times in 37 journals, and the h-index provided by the Web of Science was 14.Research limitations/implicationsThis study only investigated articles titled with institutional repositories in the SSCI. Other items were not included.Practical implicationsThis study shows that the implementation of institutional repositories has been limited to library and information science. If they can be used broadly in different disciplines, a better outcome can be expected.Social implicationsBased on the findings, the growth of institutional repositories as an academic subject is likely to continue. If such discussions can be conducted in other disciplines, institutional repositories may be able to provide a more promising outcome to academia.Originality/valueThis paper is valuable for researchers who wish to examine the trends of institutional repositories in the SSCI and seek possible areas for further research.