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Information literacy in social sciences and health sciences: a bibliometric study (1974–2011)

Author

Listed:
  • María Pinto

    (University of Granada)

  • María Isabel Escalona-Fernández

    (Library, University of Extremadura)

  • Antonio Pulgarín

    (University of Extremadura)

Abstract

We examine the international scientific productivity on information literacy since its inception in 1974 until late 2011, based on a bibliometric analysis of scientific articles included in the web of science and Scopus databases. The sample comprised two macro-domains—the most productive and the least productive. The former was the area of social sciences (SoS), covering such disciplines as information and documentation, communication, education, management, etc. The latter was the area of health sciences (HeS), covering such disciplines as medicine, nursing, etc. The objective of the study was to analyse the evolution of research activity during this period, taking into account the authors’ production, the distribution and co-authorship of the works, the affiliation, and the most frequently used journals. A quantitative and qualitative methodological approach was taken, based on statistical, mathematical, and content analyses. The results showed exponential growth of the scientific publications in both domains (R 2 = 0.9544 for SoS, and R 2 = 0.9393 for HeS), with a predominance of Anglo-Saxon authors. Author productivity was low (1.29 and 1.12 papers/author), while the dispersion of articles by journal averaged 4.96 in SoS and 1.86 in HeS. Scientific collaboration exceeded 53 % in the SoS domain and 69 % in HeS. There was a major dispersion of the places of the authors’ affiliation. In both domains, the author distributions fitted Lotka’s law, and the journal distributions Bradford’s Law.

Suggested Citation

  • María Pinto & María Isabel Escalona-Fernández & Antonio Pulgarín, 2013. "Information literacy in social sciences and health sciences: a bibliometric study (1974–2011)," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 95(3), pages 1071-1094, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:95:y:2013:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-012-0899-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-012-0899-y
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. María Pinto & Rosaura Fernández-Pascual & David Caballero-Mariscal & Dora Sales & David Guerrero & Alejandro Uribe, 2019. "Scientific production on mobile information literacy in higher education: a bibliometric analysis (2006–2017)," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 120(1), pages 57-85, July.
    2. María Pinto & M. Isabel Escalona & Antonio Pulgarín & Alejandro Uribe-Tirado, 2015. "The scientific production of Ibero-American authors on information literacy (1985–2013)," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 102(2), pages 1555-1576, February.
    3. María Pinto, 2015. "Viewing and exploring the subject area of information literacy assessment in higher education (2000–2011)," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 102(1), pages 227-245, January.
    4. Hicks, Alison, 2022. "The missing link: Towards an integrated health and information literacy research agenda," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    5. Yating Li & Ye Chen & Qiyu Wang, 2021. "Evolution and diffusion of information literacy topics," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(5), pages 4195-4224, May.
    6. María Pinto & Antonio Pulgarín & M. Isabel Escalona, 2014. "Viewing information literacy concepts: a comparison of two branches of knowledge," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 98(3), pages 2311-2329, March.
    7. Maria Lúcia Pato & Aurora A.C. Teixeira, 2013. "Twenty years of rural entrepreneurship: a bibliometric survey," FEP Working Papers 516, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.

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