Knowledge Mapping of Academic Libraries Research in India: A Study from 2014-23

Background: Academic libraries play a pivotal role in higher education.They occupy a prominent place in the institution.Libraries select, procure, process, and manage both print and electronic content.The present study aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis of academic library research. Methods:We searched Scopus for publications up to 16.8.2024.Keywords related to "academic" and "Libraries" were used in a search query in the Scopus search engine.The time was set from 2014-23.We included all types of documents in the analysis.Data about the growth of publications, the most active countries, institutions, authors, and journals, the most cited articles, and keyword mapping to analyse research trends were analysed. Results:The study examines 1717 Indian publications on academic library research during the years 2014-23, as indexed in the Scopus database.The study uses various bibliometric indicators such as the growth of publications, research impact, international collaborative papers, leading organisations and authors, etc. India ranked globally at 4th position with 5.32% global share and 10.08% publications having international collaboration.Indian publications on academic libraries research registered a citation impact per paper (CPP) of 9.1.The study found that the University of Delhi (55 papers), Alagappa University, Karaikudi (51 papers), and the University of Kashmir, Srinagar (43 papers) were the most productive organisations.Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi (14.23),IGNOU, N. Delhi (8.59) and Manipal Academy of Higher Education (8.33) were the most impactful organizations in terms of citations per paper.Ganie, S.A (18 papers), NS Lawal, M.T (13 papers) were the most productive authors, and Tripathi, M (12.2),Bhardwaj, R.K (10.1) and Yuvaraj, M.R (9.55) were the most impactful authors in terms of citations per paper.Library Philosophy and Practice (514 papers), DESIDOC Journal of Library and Information Technology (134 papers), and Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies (66 papers) were the leading journals in the field.Library Philosophy and Practice (716 citations), DESIDOC Journal of Library and Information Technology (680 citations) and Electronic Library (207 citations) were the most impactful journals in the domain.Conclusions: India needs to improve its research performance in the area of academic libraries.There is a dire need to strengthen academic libraries and conduct research on academic libraries.A national policy should be evolved to fund the research project as well as improve international collaboration.