Altmetric Analysis of Library and Information Science Journals Published in India

Abstract

The present research examines the altmetric presence in the Indian journals published within the discipline of Library and Information Science (LIS). The population consists of scholarly articles published in Indian LIS journals, which are currently indexed on the Web of Science (WoS) from 2005 to 2023. Citations of scholarly articles were obtained from the WoS database, and the Altmetric Attention Score (AAS) was obtained using Altmetric Explorer. Three Indian LIS journals were identified, which are currently indexed on the WoS with an aggregate total of 1350 scholarly articles with Digital Object Identifier. Out of 1350 scholarly articles, 202 (14.96%) had an AAS. Popular altmetrics data sources were also studied, where X (Twitter) was the famous media channel where scholarly articles from Indian LIS journals were mentioned. Mendeley readership and citations from the Dimensions database were also analysed to know the varied aspects of research published in selected journals. Pearson correlation analysis displays a weakly positive relationship between citations and AAS, showing that altmetric attention and conventional citations represent complementary characteristics of research impact. The originality of this research exists in its unique focus on WoS-listed Indian LIS journals by evaluating year-wise and journal-wise trends, choosing relevant altmetric sources, and assessing the correlationship between citation counts, AAS, and Mendeley readership. By examining a specific geographic area and a disciplinary context, this research fills a notable gap and adds original insights into the societal visibility and academic influence of Indian LIS publications.