Looking for evidence of independent researchers in bibliographic records: an exploration

Independent researchers or scholars have always (co-)existed with academic professionals. The term independent researcher has been used to refer to various phenomena at different times - from the historical researchers pursuing their research interests independently to today's researchers struggling to find permanent positions or funding. Bibliographical data sources offer a possibility to learn more about these researchers, but they do not provide a full picture. In this exploratory study, we compare three different data sources: Web of Science, Scopus and OpenAlex. All three sources show an increase in records associated with independent researchers, and the amount of records varies. We use OpenAlex to further explore publications by independent researchers active in the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH). We provide an overview of the topics and the forms of open access publishing. We also explore different career trajectories based on the full publication history of independent researchers.