Content and Statistical Analysis of Papers in Contemporary Arabic Literary Criticism Biannual Journal Published by Yazd University

The present inquiry attempts to provide a content and statistical examination of papers in the journal of Contemporary ArabicLiterary Criticism published by Yazd University. This biannual journal is a credible publication in the area of Arabic language and literature in Iran. In this study, the number of authors, their qualifications, the extent of co-authorship among them, active facilities and institutions contributing to journals, etc. are examined. The results of the study show that there are 70 papers published in 10 issues of this journal; consequently, the journal has adhered to its publishing order. Statistics regarding the authors demonstrated that there are eight and 62 papers written individually and by group partnership respectively, which is also considered as one of the strengths of this journal. Furthermore, 44 of the articles were the outcome of within-university cooperation of the authors, while 18 papers were the outcome of the cooperation of members of different universities; the journal must strive to further improve such partnerships. Having authored four papers, Faramarz Mirzaei and Ali Salimi have produced the highest number of articles. There are also 12 papers written through partnership with the editorial board, with an acceptable average of 7.59%. The main subject of almost half the papers includes fiction literature and poetry analysis. It would be more appropriated if various issues of the journal are edited based on a particular subject. Overall, there are 1657 references used, with an average number of 23.6 references per paper, which is acceptable. However, most of these references are books, while it would be better to use more up-to-date references such as papers, dissertations, etc. Also, the mean age of 55.76% of references is over 14 years.