Knowledge Organization in editorial policies for titles, abstracts and keywords in JCR-indexed journals: an exploratory study in the areas of Information and Communication Sciences

Fujita, Mariangela Spotti Lopes ; Agustín Lacruz, María Carmen (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Terra, Ana Lucia

Resumen: In the formal writing of articles, the title, abstract and keywords have been the essential elements of knowledge representation. However, authors themselves are nowadays responsible for electronically making available the document representation elements (title, abstract and keywords) of their papers. For that reason, the editorial policies established by the journals, especially guidelines for authors regarding standardization, style, structure, extension and format for writing and submission of their articles are particularly relevant. The purpose of this exploratory study was to observe and analyze guidelines provided for authors on writing their papers’ title, abstract and keywords in a representative sample of Library & Information Science (LIS) and Communication Science (CS) journals indexed in Journal Citation Reports (JCR) taking into account the first 8 titles of each one of the four quartiles. The sample consisted of 32 CS journals, out of a total of 82 (39%), and 32 LIS journals, out of a total of 85 (37.6%). A spreadsheet designed for data collection and processing was used containing 36 items grouped into four categories: identification data, guidelines for the title, abstract, and keywords of the scientific article. The categories established for each knowledge area were then analyzed by comparison in order to verify the use of specific aspects of knowledge organization and representation in editorial policies. The results reveal a scarcity of scientific literature, a tendency to standardize general indications and criteria, divergent behavior and little instruction in LIS and CS about titles, abstracts and keywords. The conclusion is that these aspects are more related to protocols of editorial management proceedings than to the intrinsic quality of documentary products associated with scientific organization and representation.

Idioma: Inglés

Año: 2018

Publicado en: Advances in Knowledge Organization 16 (2018), 321-330
ISSN: 0938-5495

Tipo y forma: Article (Published version)

Área (Departamento): Área Biblioteconomía y Docum. (Dpto. Ciencias Doc. Hª Ciencia)