Top 100 cited papers in Information and Library science: A Brief Analysis

Abstract

High number of citations of research publications expresses its intellectual and cognitive impact. Papers with high citations are considered as a landmark in relevant research field as these express trends and emerging research areas as well as set future course of research. The objective of this study is to conduct bibliometric analysis of the top 100 most cited studies in the discipline of Information Science and Library Science. The data for the study was obtained from “Information Science and Library Science” category of Web of Science, as indexed in the last twenty-one years (2000-2021). The outcome of bibliometric analysis included progressive growth in citation over time, annual citation density, name of journal with its impact factor, which published these papers, year of publication, type of article i.e. articles, proceedings, book reviews, reviews and poetry etc; nature of access i.e. subscribed or open access, and country of origin. Number of citations of these papers as reported by Web of Science were cross checked with numbers of citations reported by Google Scholar to understand which one provided higher number of citations for the same paper. The number of citations in the top 100 cited papers ranged from 699 to 14,273. The large numbers of the top 100 cited papers were published in MIS Quarterly. There were 40 publications authored by two, while 13 other papers were authored by more than four authors. This research is valuable for scholars in the discipline of library science and information science in identifying highly cited papers in the last 21 years, frequently pursued research areas, and names of journals publishing high quality research work in library Science discipline. The study of frequently cited papers will also guide in designing of objectives and methodology of future research studies. Journals have been charging very high subscription fee. This study will also help librarian in identifying journals which are making valuable contributions in the discipline of Information and Library Science.