Comparison of the use of Theory in the Journal of Library and Information Science with Research on Information Science and Public Libraries

The theory has special significance and applications in every scientific field, including information science and epistemology. The present study compares the amount of theory use between the quarterly Iranian Journal of Library and Information Science and quarterly Journal of Research on Information Science and Public Libraries during 2009-2010.

The present study was conducted by the content analysis method through the website of the Iranian Quarterly Journal of Library and Information Science and Quarterly Journal of Research on Information Science and Public Libraries. The number of articles in the two quarterly journals, including research, review, short, letter to the editor, was 404 and 340, respectively, during 2009-2018.. The data collection tool was a checklist (glossary). The keywords, such as theory, model, pattern, and paradigm, were used to search for information. Each item was counted only once in each article. The data were analyzed using Excel software.

The results showed that although the number of articles in the Iranian Quarterly Journal of Library and Information Science was less than 100 articles in comparison with the quarterly Journal of Research on Information Science and Public Libraries, its use of selected keywords was higher. The study also found that the average use of theory in the Iranian Quarterly Journal of Library and Information Science was 45% and in the quarterly Journal of Research on Information Science and Public Libraries was 37%.

According to the results of publications in the field of librarianship and generaly in all fields of education the articles that deal with the basic concepts of science, have been given more value and in accepting them, this issue has been considered. Researchers should consider citing similar theories and terms in the articles to contribute to developing the library science philosophy and cognition.