The State of Art for Library and Information Science Research Trends in the Middle East: An Exploratory Analysis

Abstract

This study examines scientific productivity in Middle Eastern (ME) countries within the discipline of Library and Information Science (LIS) for the entire period for which data is available, 1979-2023. The productivity of ME countries in all document types was only 1.49% under the LIS research area. Although academic productivity has increased considerably over the years, the contribution of ME researchers to global LIS discourse remains limited. The five most productive ME countries in LIS are Turkey (23rd), Iran (26th), Israel (31st), Saudi Arabia (42nd), and United Arab Emirates (46th). While Israel ranks the highest for international collaboration, institutions in Iran and Turkey are more likely to cooperate at national levels. Articles in the field of LIS were found to be highly related to computer science (f: 1894), business economics (f: 612), and health-related research fields (f: 206). In addition, knowledge management, social media, academic libraries, information retrieval, Internet, e-government, and bibliometrics were the most intensively studied topics. The study is crucial to appreciate the general situation of the LIS field in a region containing cities that have hosted the largest libraries in history (such as Alexandria and Beytü'l-Hikme). The Middle East has an important heritage for library and information science and this study’s findings open the discussion of how the region can perform better. Policymakers and those developing higher education policies in the region should emphasize infrastructure development, public awareness, education, research and academic programs, international and regional cooperation, policy, and support for collaboration and sharing.