Research Productivity and the Citation of Open and Distance Learning Journals (2009-2018): A Citation Analysis

ABSTRACT

Evaluating open and distance learning journals will be helpful to the discipline and the global community at large, as research evaluation metrics are useful for measuring research productivity and its impact within the global community. The study adopted a citation analysis, using Harzel Publish or Perish software, to extract data from Google Scholar and Scopus databases. The data extracted includes the geographical coverage of the authors, the number of citations per year, the most cited articles and the number of research outputs produced within the study period. Four core open and distance learning journals were studied. The main findings showed that the journals have geographical spread, which is seen from the contributors. The journals are shown to receive a good number of citations; however, within the study period some journals received more citations than the number of publications produced. The most productive journal is also the most cited journal, although no significant relationship exists between the number of published articles and the number of citations made. The geographical spread of the journals presents them as being very useful for research and a useful factor for consideration in collection development plans within libraries.