Unveiling citation patterns and scholarly impact: analysis of the Journal of Tropical Forestry and Environment from 2012-2021

Abstract

Citation analysis is a popular and important tool employed by academic libraries to assess the impact and relevance of scholarly publications. This study presents a comprehensive citation analysis of the "Journal of Tropical Forestry and Environment", covering a decade (2012 - 2021). This is published by a prominent state university in Sri Lanka, and have a substantial recognition within the country, and indexed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). It addresses the research problem of understanding citation patterns of the journal aiming to identify the diversity of scholarly communication and its significance for academic libraries. The total number of articles published (148) during the 10-year timeframe was collected, and within this dataset, a total of 4,382 citations were analyzed. Analysis shows that, average citations per article was 30. Scholarly journals were the most prevalent type cited by researchers, 2,941 citations (67%), followed by books (14%), Reports (9%) conference papers (4%) and other resources. Most heavily cited journal was "Forest Ecology & Management", An Elsevier publication. Authorship patterns revealed that citations with more than three authors were the most prominent, (26.8%) followed by two-authorship (25.4%) and single-authorship (24.2%). Total collaborative percentage is 68.8% which indicates the high collaborative nature of research studies. The contribution of corporate authorship was low (5.9%). The mean half-life of citations within the journal was 11 years, which indicates the longevity and impact of publications in the field. The findings guide collection development decisions of the library, subscriptions to journals, and supporting researchers in this field. It will empower libraries to promote collaboration, interdisciplinary connections, and enhance resource discovery.