Research by academic librarians at public universities in Ghana: emerging patterns from a survey and a bibliometric study
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Date
2020-05
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journals.ac.za
Abstract
This study explores how the academic environment facilitates the ability of academic librarians at public
universities in Ghana to fulfil their research and publication mandate. A web survey of academic
librarians was conducted to explore the opportunities and resources for research. Based on a
bibliometric analysis of journal articles, the study also investigated the nature of research production of
academic librarians in Ghana, specifically their co-authorship patterns, publication outlets and research
visibility. The results show that academic librarians mainly produce single-authored articles and articles
that are co-authored within their home institution, with a preference for publishing in local journals. Their
research visibility, operationalised as time-based citation scores derived from data in Google Scholar, is
also limited in light of a lack of international co-authorship. Opportunities and resources for project
participation, funding, conference participation and publishing are all mostly linked to having completed
a research qualification. The results further suggest that, for some librarians, it seems indeed possible
to engage in research despite the odds.
Description
This article is published by journals.ac.za , 2020 and is also available at http://sajlis.journals.ac.za doi:10.7553/86-1-1833