Success in Research:

Factors that Contribute to Increased Research

Productivity Across Librarianship and Other
Disciplines
Kristin Hoffmann (University of Western Ontario)
Selinda Berg (University of Windsor)
Denise Koufogiannakis (University of Alberta)
 Background
Some librarians are successful researchers; others
struggle to be productive.

The library literature focuses on struggles and barriers

more than on what contributes to success.
 The Larger Study
What factors have contributed to librarians success as
researchers?
Overall goal: to develop a survey tool to help us answer
that question
Phase One Phase Two Phase Three

Identify factors Create a validated Identify key factors

literature review instrument in librarians
research
productivity
 Finding the Literature
Searched in LISA, Library Literature, Google Scholar,
Scopus, Web of Science, and a personal database of
literature on librarians as researchers

Searched more comprehensively for literature on

librarians

Representative, not exhaustive search

Literature on Research Productivity
What factors have been identified in the scholarly literature
as contributing to academic research productivity and how
were these factors identified?

What are the similarities and differences between the

success factors for academic librarians and those for non-
librarians? What potential factors have not yet been studied
for librarians?
 Categories of Success Factors

Individual Peers and Community Institutional

Academic rank Collaboration Access to and use of

resources

Demographics Community Department/Institution

qualities

Education and experience Guidance and support Extrinsic motivation

from editors

Personality traits Impact of family and Positive organizational

personal relationships climate

Professional commitment Mentoring Time

to research

Peer support
 Most Prevalent Factors Overall

Individual Peers and Community Institutional

Academic rank Collaboration Access to and use of

resources

Demographics Community Department/Institution

qualities

Education and experience Guidance and support Extrinsic motivation

from editors

Personality traits Impact of family and Positive organizational

personal relationships climate

Professional commitment Mentoring Time

to research

Peer support
 Most Prevalent Factors among Research Papers

Individual Peers and Community Institutional

Academic rank Collaboration Access to and use of

resources

Demographics Community Department/Institution

qualities

Education and experience Guidance and support Extrinsic motivation

from editors

Personality traits Impact of family and Positive organizational

personal relationships climate

Professional commitment Mentoring Time

to research

Peer support
 Most Prevalent among Research Papers by Group

Individual Peers and Community Institutional

Academic rank Collaboration Access to and use of

resources

Demographics Community Department/Institution

qualities

Education and experience Guidance and support Extrinsic motivation

from editors

Personality traits Impact of family and Positive organizational

personal relationships climate

Professional commitment Mentoring Time

to research

Peer support
 Papers with a Measured Component
7 librarians, 23 non-librarians
26 surveys (including all librarian studies); 4 data set
analysis; 1 systematic review
o survey sample sizes ranged from 55 to over 10,000
o survey response rates ranged from 6% to 92%
geographically diverse
 Definitions of Research Productivity
Dissemination
o articles only
o articles and books, book chapters, presentations,
editorships
o publication in top-tier venues
Grants received
Designing research projects
Some definitions also applied other parameters
 Measured Research Papers Most Positive Relationship

Individual Peers and Community Institutional

Academic rank Collaboration Access to and use of

resources

Demographics Community Department/Institution

qualities

Education and experience Guidance and support Extrinsic motivation

from editors

Personality traits Impact of family and Positive organizational

personal relationships climate

Professional commitment Mentoring Time

to research

Peer support
 Individual Factors
Education and experience
many aspects were noted as having a positive impact: inclusion of
research methods training as part of an educational program,
participating in continuing education, doing research as part of ones
education, level of education obtained, where participants were
educated

Professional commitment to research

several papers showed a positive correlation with an individuals
commitment to doing research (making it a priority, making effort, etc.)
and positive outcomes in terms of research productivity
 Peers and Community
Mentoring
many papers identified a positive connection: simply being
mentored was most often noted, as well as ease of finding a
mentor and having an influential mentor; being a mentor,
specifically research-related advising, was significant in two
studies
 Institutional Factors
Time
Access to & Use of Resources
The two most commonly measured institutional factor aspects with consistent
results demonstrating relationship with research productivity.
Often time and financial support from the institution/ department were tied
together.
Time and Resources appeared to have a relationship with research productivity in
most studies, however there was some inconsistency across studies.
Librarian studies that examined these factors also indicated a relationship.
 Conclusions
Reinforces the need for more research on success
factors for academic librarians research productivity
Identifies specific factors for which further research
would be valuable
Focusing on success factors will help develop a
stronger research culture
 Next Steps
Examine tools used in these studies
Create a validated research tool to further study
success factors for academic librarians

Phase One Phase Two Phase Three

Identify factors Create a validated Identify key factors

literature review instrument in librarians
research
productivity