The Prevalence of Software Deployment in Persian Scientometric Studies: A Meta-analysis Approach

This study aims at conducting a meta-analysis on the use of software packages in scientometric-related articles published in Iranian journals. The study consisted of 170 research papers selected based on their credibility within the survey. The articles published from 2013 to 2016 in the field of scientometrics in Iranian journals. Firstly, the assumptions of homogeneity and publication bias were checked; then the fixed effect size was interpreted according to Cohen’s model. Results showed that two general statistical software, Microsoft Excel and IBM SPSS, were mostly used in the articles. Finding revealed the homogeneity of the effect size and the lack of bias in the studies investigated. The mean effect size of the prevalence of professional software use in scientometric research was 0.557 (P = 0.000). The results also showed from 2013 to 2016, the use of professional software increased. The meta-analysis results indicated that the most frequently used tools are not professional software. This is because of the inability to import the overall output of the retrieved results and their mismatch with the researcher’s specific and diverse goals. It seems that the employment of the software depends on what the researchers want to do and what sort of analysis they want to perform. Furthermore, in many cases, researchers seem to have little knowledge about the special tools in this regard. It seems that the employment of the software depends on what the researchers want to do and what sort of analysis they want to perform. Furthermore, in many cases, researchers seem to have little knowledge about the special tools in this regard.