National-Level Assessment of LIS Doctoral Theses in Shodhganga: A Metadata driven Study

Abstract

The study assesses the current status and growth of the library and information science (LIS) doctoral-level theses deposited in Shodhganga, India’s national digital repository for theses and dissertations. A quantitative metadata-based approach was adopted. Bibliographic records of LIS theses covering the period 2010-2025 were manually extracted from Shodhganga. Initially, bibliographic records of 4,400 LIS doctoral theses from 166 universities were collected. After data cleaning and organizing them in excel sheets, a final dataset of 4,027 LIS theses from 156 universities was analyzed. The analysis reveals that Bharathiar University emerged as the most productive institution by depositing 153 LIS theses, followed by Karnatak University (126) and Manonmaniam Sundaranar University (125). State universities contributed more than 3/4th of the total LIS doctoral output, while Central universities contributed 11.62%, Private universities 6.98%, and Deemed-to-be universities 4.77%. The annual distribution of doctoral theses shows fluctuations, with a sharp growth after 2015, peaking in the year 2022 with 532 theses, followed by a marginal decline in 2025, which may reflect incomplete reporting for that year. Tamil Nadu dominates at the regional level with 814 theses, ahead of Maharashtra (506) and Karnataka (452). The geospatial mapping highlights a strong concentration of LIS research in southern and western India, with comparatively lower representation in several northern and central regions. This study provides a significant foundation for policy makers, academic planners and LIS educators to identify leading research universities, address regional imbalances, strengthen doctoral programmes and promote awareness regarding the deposition of doctoral research output in the national repository.