Sustainable Development Goals with libraries in higher education: comprehensive bibliometrics analysis with the altmetric score comparison

Purpose The purpose of this study is to assess the role of higher education institutions (HEIs) and their libraries in promoting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For this, a comprehensive bibliometric analysis and altmetric score comparison will be conducted on the paper published on the SD, specifically in the librarianship field. Design/methodology/approach A comprehensive literature review was conducted using the Web of Science (WoS) database. Bibliometric and altmetric indicators were used to analyze publications. The search strings included combinations of “Sustainable development,” “Sustainability,” “SDG,” “Libraries” and “Higher education.” A total of 2,011 documents were identified, with 89 core documents related to libraries. The analysis was performed using MS Excel, R-studio and VOSviewer. Findings The findings show that over the decades, there has been a significant increase in publications on SD that are related to the libraries in the HEIs, with the USA, China and South Africa leading research contributions. Sustainability is the most productive journal in this field, and Bangani Siviwe is identified as a leading author. Practical implications This study highlights the need for academic library leaders to develop policies promoting sustainable and green practices. It contributes to the growing body of knowledge by analyzing bibliographic data to identify key articles, authors, keywords and trends in sustainability and libraries. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first bibliometric analysis on SD and libraries with the correlation on altmetric tools and citations for the highly impactful journal index in the WoS. This paper would open new avenues for other serendipity researchers.