Journal of Education and Health Promotion

A study on scientific collaboration and co‑authorship patterns in library and information science studies in Iran between 2005 and 2009

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. Saba Siamaki
. Ehsan Geraei
. Firoozeh Zare‑ Farashbandi

Department of Medical Library and Information Sciences, School of Management and Medical Informatics, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract
Background: Scientific collaboration is among the most important subjects in scientometrics, and
many studies have investigated this concept to this day. The goal of the current study is investigation
of scientific collaboration and co‑authorship patterns of researchers in the field of library and
information science in Iran between years 2005 and 2009. Materials and Methods: The current
study uses scientometrics method. The statistical population consists of 942 documents
published in Iranian library and information science journals between years 2005 and 2009.
Collaboration coefficient, collaboration index (CI), and degree of collaboration (DC) were used
for data analysis. Findings: The findings showed that among 942 investigated documents, 506
documents (53.70%) was created by one individual researcher and 436 documents (46.30%)
were the result of collaboration between two or more researchers. Also, the highest rank of
different authorship patterns belonged to National Journal of Librarianship and Information
Organization (code H). Conclusion: The average collaboration coefficient for the library and
information science researchers in the investigated time frame was 0.23. The closer this coefficient
is to 1, the higher is the level of collaboration between authors, and a coefficient near zero shows
a tendency to prefer individual articles. The highest collaboration index with an average of 1.92
authors per paper was seen in year 1388. The five year collaboration index in library and information
science in Iran was 1.58, and the average degree of collaboration between researchers in the
investigated papers was 0.46, which shows that library and information science researchers
have a tendency for co‑authorship. However, the co‑authorship had increased in recent years
reaching its highest number in year 1388. The researchers’ collaboration coefficient also shows
relative increase between years 1384 and 1388. National Journal of Librarianship and Information
Organization has the highest rank among all the investigated journals based on collaboration
coefficient, collaboration index (CI), and degree of collaboration (DC).

Keywords

Co‑authorship patterns
Iranian library and information science journals
scientific collaboration
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Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 4, Issue 4
Summer 2014
Pages 1-5

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