Journal Publishing and Authorship in Library and Information Science by Early Career Researchers in South Korea

Abstract

This study explored journal publishing and authorship by South Korean early career researchers (ECRs) in the field of library and information science (LIS). This research analyzed relevant journal publication data and conducted interviews to obtain information on the experiences and opinions of ECRs. Results indicated that South Korean ECRs in LIS were highly productive. This was evidenced by their annual publishing rate of 2.04 articles per person. In addition, Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) publications were produced at an annual average of 0.26 articles per person, while the quartile ratings for SSCI journal publications were also relatively high. However, unlike the trends seen in other academic fields, their collaborative research efforts were not considered very high because such efforts did not correspond to half their total publications. ECRs often participate as lead or corresponding authors despite being new researchers. ECRs are publishing first in the journals approved by their universities. These researchers cannot receive proper credit if the journal was not approved in this manner. ECRs are particularly disadvantaged when publishing in international journals corresponding to specific areas that are not on the SSCI list. By examining the journal publishing and authorship efforts of ECRs, this study discovered a variety of difficulties that should be addressed. For example, South Korean universities do not currently have cooperative research guidelines to solve authorship problems. The results from this study can serve as a basis to establish academic publishing and authorship policies while promoting scholarly communication in LIS and other scientific fields.