Fredrik Åström

Turning Weakness Into Strength: Strategies For Future Lis

Purpose – LIS has been described as a fragmented field in crisis, with an increased competition from other fields; and lacking in development of theories. The purpose of this paper is to articulate ...

How implementation of bibliometric practice affects the role of academic libraries

This article discusses potential consequences of implementing bibliometrics as an institutionalized practice in academic libraries. Results are reported from a survey among libraries in Sweden with organized bibliometric activities. Incorporating bibliometric activities is one way of redefining and widening the role of the library. Implementation of bibliometric practice is motivated by ambitions to provide more complete scholarly communication-related services, as well as to increase the visibility and status of libraries. Underlying reasons are professional competencies such as metadata and bibliographic database management; and bibliometrics being strong within library and information science. Incorporating bibliometrics in academic libraries is also seen as a way of widening the professional profile of librarianship. The new role should, however, also be considered from the viewpoint of potential changes in how academic libraries are perceived when incorporating a monitoring function through bibliometric analyses of research performance in addition to traditional service-oriented functions.

The Visibility of Information Science and Library Science Research in Bibliometric Mapping of the LIS Field.

The relation between information science and library science has been debated for decades, and even attempts at utilizing methods generally acknowledged as robust for the purpose of mapping research fields have yielded results with large variations. Therefore, a set of citation analyses was performed, comparing the results of analyses on information science and library science separately but also as a joint library and information science (LIS) field. Although there are large differences, not the least in the author‐level analyses, the patterns in the citation data support the concept of a joint LIS field with information science and library science being the two main subfields; many of the variations in the analyses are caused by the interdisciplinary nature of LIS, reflected in, for example, variations in citation practices in the different subfields.

Formalizing a discipline : The institutionalization of library and information science research in the Nordic countries

Research paper Purpose To analyze the social organization of LIS using the Nordic countries as example, focusing on organizational setting, research work and relations between LIS and academia as well as the field of professional practice. Design/methodology/approach Based on a framework for analyzing scientific fields, as well as its application on LIS, aspects relating to the impact of contextual factors on research was identified and discussed based on information from e.g. LIS institution websites. The results were discussed, not only in relation to the framework primarily utilized, but also from a less disciplinary view on research organization, for analytical contrast. Findings A close connection between academic affiliation and research orientation was found, reflected in organizational issues, media for communicating research and access to resources. This relates to general issues of levels of independence from other disciplines and lay groups, to what extent research is evaluated by intra-disciplinary standards and to the level of consensus on terminology and research processes. Research limitations/implications Limiting the study to institutions in one particular geographical area, where several institutions being at an early stage of formalization, the possibility of reaching generalizable conclusions is limited. The strength of the conclusions is also somewhat restrained due to the nature of the empirical material, being based on web-documents with varying levels of exhaustability in terms of data provision. Originality/value The intellectual organization of LIS research is well known, whereas social and institutional aspects have been analyzed to a lesser degree; and with the differences in age and size of Nordic LIS institutions, they provide an interesting case of contemporary institutionalization of LIS research. (Less)

Formalizing a discipline

Research paper Purpose To analyze the social organization of LIS using the Nordic countries as example, focusing on organizational setting, research work and relations between LIS and academia as well as the field of professional practice. Design/methodology/approach Based on a framework for analyzing scientific fields, as well as its application on LIS, aspects relating to the impact of contextual factors on research was identified and discussed based on information from e.g. LIS institution websites. The results were discussed, not only in relation to the framework primarily utilized, but also from a less disciplinary view on research organization, for analytical contrast. Findings A close connection between academic affiliation and research orientation was found, reflected in organizational issues, media for communicating research and access to resources. This relates to general issues of levels of independence from other disciplines and lay groups, to what extent research is evaluated by intra-disciplinary standards and to the level of consensus on terminology and research processes. Research limitations/implications Limiting the study to institutions in one particular geographical area, where several institutions being at an early stage of formalization, the possibility of reaching generalizable conclusions is limited. The strength of the conclusions is also somewhat restrained due to the nature of the empirical material, being based on web-documents with varying levels of exhaustability in terms of data provision. Originality/value The intellectual organization of LIS research is well known, whereas social and institutional aspects have been analyzed to a lesser degree; and with the differences in age and size of Nordic LIS institutions, they provide an interesting case of contemporary institutionalization of LIS research. (Less)

Dimensions of trust in scholarly communication: Problematizing peer review in the aftermath of John Bohannon's Sting in science

This study investigates online material published in reaction to a Science Magazine report showing the absence of peer‐review and editorial processes in a set of fee‐charging open access journals in biology. Quantitative and qualitative textual analyses are combined to map conceptual relations in these reactions, and to explore how understandings of scholarly communication and publishing relate to specific conceptualizations of science and of the hedging of scientific knowledge. A discussion of the connection of trust and scientific knowledge and of the role of peer review for establishing and communicating this connection provides for the theoretical and topical framing. Special attention is paid to the pervasiveness of digital technologies in formal scholarly communication processes. Three dimensions of trust are traced in the material analyzed: (a) trust through personal experience and informal knowledge, (b) trust through organized, internal control, (c) trust through form. The article concludes by discussing how certain understandings of the conditions for trust in science are challenged by perceptions of possibilities for deceit in digital environments.

Approaches on Assessing Quality in European Educational Research Introduction to the volume

Across the world, structures and control mechanisms of publicly funded research have changed dramatically in the last decades. Input governance of research funding has increasingly been replaced by output and control related mechanisms inspired by economic models – a transformation of all publically funded activities since the 1980s and onwards, referred to as ’new public management‘ (NPM) – rather than traditions in academia. These trends have been, and continue to be, accompanied by a decrease in public funding of research, especially in the social sciences and the humanities (Brinkley, 2009; Halevi & Bar-Ilan, 2013). These developments arise in parts from issues related to the scientific work process per se. However, they are also driven by external factors, such as economical or technical challenges and their impact on academic life.

Citation patterns in educational research

The purpose of this study is to investigate citation structures in educational research; and also, to study the visibility of European educational research. Bibliometric analyses are performed on data from Web of Science, the EERQI Content Base and Google Scholar, investigating both characteristics of publications through frequencies and distributions, as well as citation structures through cocitation analyses. The results show fragmented citation patterns presenting little opportunity to detect robust evidence of visibility or impact of contemporary educational research on any level of aggregation other than field level. This should be interpreted considering the diverse nature of educational research, and an organization of the field that differs from a strong norm, not the least in research evaluation programs, of research essentially being a cumulative process.

Who’s asking the right question? Patterns and diversity in the literature of new venture creation

The aims of this chapter are to (i) place the research on new venture creation into the historical context of entrepreneurship research in general, (ii) highlight the pioneering works of William Gartner, and (iii) describe the development and characteristics of the research on new venture creation as an area within entrepreneurship research. The discussion in the chapter is mainly based on a set of bibliometric analyses using the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) for refereed publications on entrepreneurship and new venture creation published between 1956 and 2007. The results indicate that venture creation can be characterized as a rather small area within the field of entrepreneurship research. At the same time, many different conversations are going on within the area, using different concepts in order to understand the phenomena of venture creation. Over time, the research has been changeable and dynamic in terms of the research topics. However, the research on new venture creation appears to be anchored in two different knowledge bases, with a focus on micro- and macro-levels of analysis respectively. (Less)

Consumer Credit Behavior in the Digital Context: A Bibliometric Analysis and Literature Review

This literature review seeks to map the state of research on the effects of digitization on personal financial behavior and management through a bibliometric analysis and a systematic literature review. The findings indicate that current knowledge is primarily based on perspectives of actors in commerce and systems development. More research is needed on how personal financial behavior change in relation to digital technology, the vulnerability of children and adolescents, and the links between changes in credit behavior and indebtedness. Financial counseling could benefit from an awareness of young adults vulnerability as digital consumers and an extended perception of financial literacy that encompasses requirements of digital society. Policymakers need to be aware of the consequences of digital measurability.