BIBLIOMETRIC STUDY OF THE JOURNAL OF ACADEMIC LIBRARIANSHIP 2016-2020

The Journal of Academic Librarianship is a peer-reviewed academic journal that covers a wide range of topics related to academic libraries. It publishes book reviews, analytical articles, and bibliographic essays. Established in 1975, it is published by Elsevier. The journal has been a bimonthly publication since its inception in March 1975. The initial editors were Richard M. Dougherty and William H. Webb, and the current editor-in-chief is Amanda Folk from Ohio State University. A study analyzed the publication trends, authorship patterns, collaboration rates, and article length in the 'Journal of Academic Librarianship' (JAL) from 2016 to 2020. A total of 376 articles from databases like Web of Science, Science Direct, and Citation Database were examined. In 2020, 86 articles (22.87%) were published, the highest in the study period. Single-authored articles accounted for 37.23% (140 articles), with the most articles in Issue No. 4 (73). The collaboration rate peaked in 2016 at 0.69, averaging 0.62 over the five years. The journal has an Impact Factor of 2.5 and is indexed in Scopus and the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), with Mendeley linked datasets. The study also tested hypotheses on research gaps, and all gold open access articles are freely accessible for everyone.