The impact of better access to scientific journals on the quality of research work: The case of a small university

Abstract

Linking a publication with scientific research results and the use of information resources is a key component of the collection, development and assessment of an academic library. Librarians often use quantitative data, but it is not easy to come by. Directly connecting library and information services to the impact they have can be quite difficult. Focusing on the 2010–2014 period, we have linked the quality and quantity of published papers to usage statistics for the newly acquired consortia access to scholarly journals in three international publisher databases: ScienceDirect, SpringerLink and WileyOnline. We found that the share of scholarly journals from the ScienceDirect, SpringerLink and WileyOnline consortia cited by University of Primorska researchers’ in their scholarly papers has gradually increased every year, ranging from 13.5% in 2010 up to 24.8% in 2014. The share of scholarly papers published by University of Primorska researchers’ in scholarly journals with the highest impact (measured in Web of Science and Scopus) has also increased substantially, from 18.03% in 2011 to 31.55% in 2014. Study shows that better access to quality information resources for scientific researchers lead to an increase in its use and results in higher quality research shown by the gradual increase of publications of research results in higher impact scholarly journals.

A five-year department-based electronic usage data analysis on electronic journal access, library training courses, and scholarly publications

“…In this group, providing sufficient e-resources is critical to facilitate scholarly work. Another study indicated that better accessibility to quality information resources leads to an increase in publication quality (Miholič and Južnič, 2018).…”

Awareness and Use of Serials in an African University Library: Faculty and Students’ Perspective

“…This supports the assertions of Ogunniyi, Akerele and Afolabi (2011) and Cottrell (2013) who opine that journals are useful for completing thesis and dissertations. Miholič and Južnič (2016) assert that journals are the basis for scientific research and communication. Afful-Broni, Owusu-Ansah and Takyi (2016) find in their study that graduate students use journals for their research projects.…”

“…Finally, librarians must demonstrate the legacy advantage of print serials, as opposed to electronic serials which are subject to the pitfalls of technology (Dilevko and Gottlieb, 2002). Librarians must, therefore, enhance and increase their print serial collection as increased access to scholarly resources leads to improved research output of researchers (Miholič & Južnič, 2016).…”

Library as a consortium perspective: A systematic literature review

“…Miholič and Južnič (2018) analysed the participation of a university in three consortia for access to electronic e-journals through the use of available resources. This study identified that there was an increase in the number of articles published by researchers linked to the consortium Institution, thus demonstrating an effective result of this participation.…”