The integration of open access journals in the scholarly communication system: three science fields

The greatest number of open access journals (OAJs) is found in the sciences and their influence is growing. However, there are only a few studies on the acceptance and thereby integration of these OAJs in the scholarly communication system. Even fewer studies provide insight into the differences across disciplines. This study is an analysis of the citing behaviour in journals within three science fields: biology, mathematics, and pharmacy and pharmacology. It is a statistical analysis of OAJs as well as non-OAJs including both the citing and cited side of the journal to journal citations. The multivariate linear regression reveals many similarities in citing behaviour across fields and media. But it also points to great differences in the integration of OAJs. The integration of OAJs in the scholarly communication system varies considerably across fields. The implications for bibliometric research are discussed

Intra-disciplinary differences in database coverage and the consequences for bibliometric research

International audienceBibliographic databases (including databases based on open access) are routinely used for bibliometric research. The value of a specific database depends to a large extent on the coverage of the discipline(s) under study. A number of studies have determined the coverage of databases in specific disciplines focusing on inter-disciplinary differences. However, little is known about the potential existence of intra-disciplinary differences in database coverage. Focusing on intra-disciplinary differences, the paper documents large database coverage differences within two disciplines (economics and psychology). The point extends to include both the uneven coverage of specialties and research traditions. The implications for bibliometric research are discussed, and precautions which need to be taken are outlined

Statistical analyses of digital collections: Using a large corpus of systematic reviews to study non-citations

Using statistical methods to analyse digital material for patterns makes it possible to detect patterns in big data that we would otherwise not be able to detect. This paper seeks to exemplify this fact by statistically analysing a large corpus of references in systematic reviews. The aim of the analysis is to study the phenomenon of non-citation: Situations where just one (or some) document(s) are cited from a pool of otherwise equally citable documents. The study is based on more than 120,000 cited studies, and a total number of non-cited studies of more than 1.6 million. The number of cited studies is found to be much smaller than the number of non-cited. Also, the cited and non-cited studies are found to differ in age. Very recent studies tend to be non-cited whereas the cited studies are rarely of recent age (e.g. within the same year). The greatest differences are found within the first 10 years. After 10 years the cited and non-cited studies tend to be more similar in terms of age. Separating the data set into different sub-disciplines reveals that the sub-disciplines vary in terms of age of cited vs. non-cited references. Some fields may be expanding and the number of published studies is thus growing. Consequently, cited and non-cited studies tend to be younger. Other fields may be more slowly progressing fields that use a greater proportion of the older literature within the field. These field differences manifest themselves in the average age of references

Kan teori redde forskningsbibliotekerne?

Antologien ”Viden i spil” forsøger at give nogle bud på forskningsbibliotekernes fremtid med ”en samlende kritisk refleksion over biblioteks- og informationsvidenskabens teorier, metoder og praksisser”. Der er interessante bidrag imellem, men det er usikkert, om bogen kan fungere som det idékatalog, den er tænkt til at være for praktikerne i fag- og forskningsbibliotekerne

Fremtiden for fag, forsknings- og uddannelsesbibliotekerne er nu

De store universitetsbiblioteker fusionerer. Hensigten er at centralisere en række områder, f.eks. licensområdet og systemarkitektur, og herved opnå en mulig stordriftsfordel. Set ud fra et samfundsøkonomisk perspektiv, kan det give god mening, men der er tale om store omvæltninger i biblioteksverdenen

Nyt efteruddannelsestilbud ved SDU i Kolding

På baggrund af et initiativ fra Bertil Dorch og Charlotte Wien ved Syddansk Universitetsbibliotek har Institut for Design og Kommunikation i samarbejde med Syddansk Universitetsbibliotek udviklet en række fag på kandidatniveau, der kan indgå i efteruddannelsesforløb rettet mod forskningsbibliotekarer og informationsspecialister