Altmetrics and their relationship with citation counts: a case of journal articles in physics

Purpose The first purpose of the present study is to investigate the coverage of journal articles in Physics in various sources of altmetrics. Secondly, the study investigates the relationship between altmetrics and citations. Finally, the study also investigates whether the relationship between citations and altmetrics was stronger or weaker for those articles that had been mentioned at least once in the sources of altmetrics. Design/methodology/approach The journal articles in Physics having at least one author from an Indian Institution and published during 2014–2018 in sources of altmetrics have been investigated. Altmetric.com was used for collecting altmetrics data. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient (ρ) has been used as the data found to be skewed. Findings The highest coverage was found on Twitter (22.68%), followed by Facebook (3.62%) and blogs (2.18%). The coverage in the rest of the sources was less than 1%. The average Twitter mentions for journal articles tweeted at least once was found to be 4 (3.99) and for Facebook mentions, it was found to be 1.48. Correlations between Twitter mentions–citations and Facebook mentions–citation were found to be statistically significant but low to weak positive. Research limitations/implications The study concludes that due to the low coverage of journal articles, altmetrics should be used cautiously for research evaluation keeping in mind the disciplinary differences. The study also suggests that altmetrics can function as complementary to citation-based metrics. Originality/value The study is one of the first large scale altmetrics studies dealing with research in Physics. Also, Indian research has not been attended to in the altmetrics literature and the present study shall fill that void.

The extent of building and managing local contents in institutional repositories: a survey of tertiary institution libraries in Nigeria

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the development of institutional repositories (IR) in tertiary institution libraries in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a survey research method. Online questionnaire and IR site investigation methods were used to collect data from 25 university libraries in Nigeria. Findings The study revealed that only 25 (14.7%) universities out of the 170 universities in Nigeria have successfully developed IRs and registered their presence in OpenDOAR. Other tertiary institutions such as Polytechnics and Colleges of Education investigated in Nigeria are yet to develop IRs. Contents such as theses and dissertations, conference proceedings and journal articles ranked highest being the most popular contents in the various IRs. The results showed that the development of IR saves space in the library, increases readership, increases access to local contents, minimizes damage to the original material, facilitates the dissemination of scholarly research and assists in globalization of Nigerian research findings. The IRs site investigation revealed that only few IRs have clearly defined access policy, content policy, submission policy and digital preservation policy. The study identified challenges such as inadequate facilities, unstable internet connectivity, lack of fund, irregular power supply, challenge of collecting materials for the IR, lack of skilled ICT personnel, copyright issues and absence of IR policies. Practical implications The results from the study will provide important data and insight into the development of institutional repositories in tertiary institution libraries in Nigeria, and generate suggestions for University Librarians, College Librarians, Polytechnic Librarians, tertiary institutions management and policy makers for developing institutional repositories in Nigeria and other developing countries. Originality/value The study investigated IR development in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. The findings will inform other tertiary institutions in developing countries that the development of IR provides an opportunity for the visibility of local contents emanating from institutions and make them see the reason to embrace this laudable development.

Influence of aesthetics attributes of brand Web pages on customer brand engagement

Purpose This paper aims to empirically explore the influence of website aesthetic attributes (classical and expressive) on customer brand engagement (CBE) intention. Design/methodology/approach This research develops a framework and a few research hypothesis based on available literature on the concept of aesthetics, aesthetic attribute of websites and CBE, as well as other reliable resources, relevant theories, wherever required and tested it on the data collected from 400 respondents of the Y generation (Gen Y) of India by means of structural equations modelling using SPSS AMOS 21. Findings The findings indicate that expressive aesthetics of the brand Web pages of the beauty products is positively associated with drawing attention. Expressive aesthetics and classical aesthetics together explained 16% of the variance in attention. This indicates that aesthetic attributes indeed play a role in drawing the attention of the customer. However, mere attention is not sufficient to form the behavioural intention in the customer to engage with that particular brand unless the customer does get fully absorbed with aesthetic attributes of the brand Web pages. Research limitations/implications The outcome of this research is based on the view of only 400 Gen Y individuals from the city of Indore in India. This limits its generalizability across India and other country context. This study makes important contribution to brand website aesthetic and CBE literature by empirically investigating the concept of brand website aesthetics as important in interactive marketing approach to initiate CBE intention formation. It further argues that cognitive engagement is the first and foremost engagement dimension and underscores aesthetic attributes as important in forming the customer first perception based on which subsequent CBE behavioural intention develops. Originality/value This research adds novel insight in the relationship of the brand website aesthetic attributes and CBE by studying the impact of the aesthetic attribute of brand Web pages on the two cognitive elements, namely, attention and absorption and further its effect on brand behavioural intention taking as sample of Gen Y of India.

Global research mapping on reproductive health: a bibliometric visualisation analysis

Purpose This study aims to examine the research productivity and network visualisation on reproductive health (RH) domain with several bibliometric indicators and applied visualisation approach in co-authorship, citation, co-occurrence of keywords and bibliographic coupling analysis in the area of RH. Design/methodology/approach This study used bibliometric indicators to determine the highly productive authors, source title, documents and organisations. This study used Web of Science database and retrieved a total of 18,186 scientific publications on the domain of RH published during the period of 2010–2020. Data analysis was also performed using VOS viewer software and RStudio. Findings The findings discovered the increasing trends of research publications in reproductive health in past ten years. The USA UK, China and Australia were the top four productive countries in terms of publishing research in the arena, and “Kishsin DM” and “Hauser R” have secured in top two positions under highly prolific authors category. University of California, Harvard University and University of London were observed under the top three productive institutions in the domain. This study also revealed association and collaboration among authors, country and institutions in the visualisation analysis. The core findings of co-occurrence of keywords emphasised that “RH,” “assisted reproductive technology,” “women,” “pregnancy” and “in-vitro fertilization” were established frequently used keywords and have robust link strength. Practical implications The findings will be helpful to the researchers to know about the status of latest trends and development of the domain. This study is also helpful to the library authority for collection development in the specific subject domain. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there was no past study found on the evaluation of research productivity and network visualisation in the domain of RH, which is a globally important issue.

Determinants of smallholders’ adoption of mobile phones for vegetable marketing in Vietnam

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine factors that shape the adoption of mobile phones for vegetable marketing by Vietnamese smallholders. Design/methodology/approach A structured questionnaire was given to 185 smallholders randomly chosen from 345 vegetable smallholders in the Vinh Thanh district of Vietnam. Descriptive statistics, inferential statistics and a binary logistic regression were applied to analyse the data. Findings The research results show that the smallholders’ adoption of mobile phones for vegetable marketing is significantly affected by their number of extension contacts, distance from smallholders’ homes to local markets, community-based organisation participation, gender, training/credit programme participation, age, education level, income and farm size (χ2 = 143,111, p < 0.000). Practical implications A combination of factors related to socio-economic, situational and institutional characteristics of smallholders should be considered when promoting smallholders’ uptake of mobile phones for vegetable marketing in developing nations. Originality/value This research provides useful insights into the determinants of mobile phone adoption for vegetable marketing by smallholders and highlights areas that need to be considered when designing policies to improve the uptake of information and communication technologies in developing countries.

Migrant’s library services: a theoretical and empirical study in Spain with guidelines for their creation

Purpose The purpose of this research study was to seek new forms of public libraries helping with the integration of migrants. It comprises a comprehensive and up-to-date bibliographic review and an empirical study involving the librarians and native and migrant users of public libraries in Spain leading to the design of guidelines for library services targeted at migrant users that can help foster the integration of this group of the population. Design/methodology/approach The bibliographic review analyses studies of whether migrant users see the public library as a place of meeting and interchange as well as a fundamental institution providing them with services, meeting their information requirements and offering them challenges and projects. The empirical investigation contrasts this theoretical information by administering three questionnaires (one for librarians, one for native users and one for migrant users, with a total of 45 items) focused on the relationship between public libraries and migration. A total of 20 public libraries over the territory of Spain were selected in accordance with diverse criteria, and a total of 233 completed questionnaires were collected. Findings The main results of the empirical research indicate that the greatest proportion of migrant users go to Spain’s public libraries on the recommendation of friends and/or relatives. They use them mainly as a place of study, visiting them at least twice a week, even though the representation of collections and specific services for this group is very sparse (only 5% of the collection of the libraries analysed are in a foreign language). On the other hand, the satisfaction expressed towards both the general services of the libraries and the help provided by their librarians is scored highly, getting mean scores of 4.45 and 4.40 out of 5, respectively. Originality/value This work not only includes an exhaustive bibliographic review of the relationship between public libraries and migrant users and an empirical investigation carried out in Spain with librarians, native users and migrant users, but also presents a decalogue of guidelines for the design of a range of services focused on the specific needs of the migrant population, thus favouring their integration in the host country.

Pregnancy-related health information behaviour of Estonian women

Purpose This study aims to increase the understanding of the pregnancy-related information behavior (IB) of pregnant women in Estonia. Design/methodology/approach The research involved a quantitative research methodology consisting of a semi-structured questionnaire. Data was collected from pregnant Estonian women through a self-administered Web-based questionnaire using a convenience sampling during the period from January to February 2019. A total of 300 pregnant women answered the questionnaire. The data were analysed using statistical analysis and the results of the study were compared with the results of previous studies. Findings The three topics on which information was most frequently sought were: fetal development, use of medicines during pregnancy and symptoms of pregnancy. The main sources of information were the internet and the midwife. The most reliable and valuable source of information was a midwife. Health-related information was sought mainly because it helped women make decisions related to pregnancy and childbirth. A number of factors facilitate the information seeking process. In addition, widespread access to the internet and technological skills facilitated IB. The following factors hindered the search for information: the controversy and/or ambiguity of information published on the internet and the time spent searching for information. Most women used wearable technologies during pregnancy. Research limitations/implications This study has several limitations. First, the weakness of online surveys is the potential lack of representativeness, as it excludes from the survey those who do not have access to or ability to use the internet for various reasons (Evans and Mathur, 2005; Limbu et al., 2021). Second, as most recruitment for the study took place online, there was a risk that those who did not use the internet could be excluded from the survey. Third, as the questionnaire was also shared in the Facebook news feed by the Women’s Clinic and Maternity Hospital of the East Tallinn Central Hospital, it may be that the respondents recruited through it more often used the support provided by medical professionals. Fourth, due to the volume limits of the study, it is not possible to present all the results of the study on the basis of socio-demographic characteristics and stage of pregnancy. Therefore, the findings cannot be generalized to the broader population and future studies should explore a larger and more representative populations. Practical implications This study will give some useful information to help to improve the services offered for pregnant women in Estonia. Social implications The findings of this study may inform how to better support this target group. Originality/value There is a lack of research in Estonia that focuses on the IB of pregnant women and this research fills this gap.

Towards understanding the gender digital divide: a systematic literature review

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address the gender digital divide through the adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs) by reviewing existing knowledge within the field. This paper explores the characteristics and factors contributing to the gender digital divide. To bridge the gender digital divide, it is important to understand the factors behind gender differences in ICT access and use. Design/methodology/approach In this study, the systematic literature review was conducted in accordance with the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) approach. In total, 24 articles were selected and analysed with using PRISMA steps. Findings Despite a significant increase in usage of the internet and other ICTs around the world, women, especially in developing countries, tend to be on the wrong side of the digital divide. The results indicate that while there are still gender differences in access to ICT in developing countries, second-level digital divide issues are more of a concern in developed countries. In the literature, several important factors have been identified as being associated with the gender digital divide. The results highlight the importance of implementable policies to bridge the gender digital divide, as well as how sociocultural factors play an important role in explaining the gender digital divide phenomenon. Originality/value By identifying the gender digital divide studies’ characteristics and factors contributing to the gender digital divide, the authors provide an overview of the existing research, allowing us to discuss future research needs within the field. The authors argue that more research is needed to understand how to better address the sociocultural factors affecting the gender digital divide, to understand why equal access seems not to result in equal use and, to understand the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the gender digital divide.

Journal selection behavior among early-career academicians in Iran: how they choose the most appropriate journal for their publications

Purpose Journals are the essential tools of researchers, especially academicians, to present their scientific findings. So, choosing the right journal helps not only science development but also their academic promotion. The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that Iranian medical researchers consider when selecting scholarly journals in which to submit their work. Design/methodology/approach A self-administered online questionnaire was emailed in May 2021, with 101 responses received. The sample included all the faculty members with the role of “lecturer” in Iranian medical universities and who have 1–5 articles in the Scopus database as early-career Iranian medical researchers. The questionnaire consisted of 36 items, divided into five sections: basic information, attitudes and beliefs, ways to choose a journal, problems and familiarity with the components of scientometrics/validity metrics related to journals. Findings The findings indicate that these researchers value the expertise of experienced researchers and professionals, like librarians, when selecting publication venues. They often use journal indexes to guide journal selection. They also consider factors like the length of typical peer review and the complexity of submission guidelines when making decisions. Research limitations/implications The study of one country, though detecting requirements of journal selection behavior, cannot be generalized to the entire region. Practical implications The current study has academic implications as far as decisions on journal selection are concerned. University policymakers in Iran may consider re-examining their emphasis on academicians’ promotion policies at Iranian universities of medical sciences. Originality/value These findings may support the work of early-career researchers and those individuals (e.g., librarians) that serve them, as well as publishers and editors of scholarly journals.

The perceived role of the mosque library in Upper Egypt as an Islamic information institution

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the perceived role of the mosque library in Upper Egypt as an Islamic information institution. Design/methodology/approach This study used a qualitative approach in the form of a structured interview, which was carried out between July and August of 2020. As possible, the researcher surveyed all mosques in Upper Egypt equipped with libraries (n = 57). Findings The most important collections of the mosque library were found to be books, rare books, Qur’anic interpretations, jurisprudential volumes, hadiths of the Prophet, biographies, orientalist books, references, manuscripts and bibliographies. The services provided are developing awareness, lending, indexing and abstracting. The activities practiced are hosting school students to visit the library, holding educational seminars and hosting scholars and thinkers. The lack of specialized classification schemes in organizing Islamic subjects, lack of financial allocations, failure to update collections and lack of digital technology were found to be significant challenges faced by mosque libraries in Upper Egypt. Originality/value The role of the mosque library extended to enhance the religious background of the worshipers and provide them with different and appropriate sources of information, not only regarding the Islamic religion but also regarding knowledge and other topics.