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Shadow Libraries: A Bibliometric Analysis of Black Open Access Phenomenon (2011: 2023)

  • Received : 2024.05.05
  • Published : 2024.05.30

Abstract

This study analyzes the global literature on the black open-access phenomenon from 2011 to 2023. A bibliometric analysis was conducted using the Scopus database. The search strategy employed advanced queries with multiple synonymous terms to ensure exhaustive retrieval of relevant documents. The VOSviewer software was employed to visualize the co-occurrence networks. The findings reported 90 papers published during the study period. An evolving scholarly landscape was revealed, with heightened attention from 2016 onwards, peaking in 2017, 2021, and 2023. Articles constitute 83.3% of the total published documents. Singh and Srichandan are prolific authors, with 11.2% of the total publications. The United States contributes 18.9% of the papers, followed by India and Spain. Information Development and Scientometrics are pivotal journals in scholarly discussions about this scope, contributing 4.4% of publications. Co-occurrence network visualization revealed "Sci-Hub" and "open access" as the most used keywords in the global literature. The findings underscore the need for additional research to discover innovative business models to safeguard intellectual property rights while meeting researchers' evolving needs. The importance of this paper comes from being the first bibliometric study analyzing international literature related to this phenomenon, which provides a basis for future research efforts and policymaking.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

The author extends her appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at Northern Border University, Arar, KSA, for funding this research work through the project number "NBU-FFR-2024-2949-01"

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