• 2024-09-04

On the afternoon of April 26^th, National Central Library announced the “2023 Report on the Landscape of Taiwan’s Academic Resources and Capacities.” Using NCL’s dissertations, journals, and citations systems databases, the report summarizes the authorizations and reader usage of degree dissertation and journal papers within these systems over the past year, observing the citations and dissemination of dissertation and journal papers, analyzing the keywords used, and understanding popular research topics. The report announcement was held in the NCL International Conference Hall and was attended by over 260 representatives from University Libraries and academic journal publishing institutions throughout Taiwan. Attendees came together to place their attention on the capabilities and ethos of degree dissertation and journal publications, which serve as the two most important academic resources supporting academic research.

The National Authorization Rate for Full-Text Electronic Dissertations Reaches Historic High, Artificial Intelligence Research Continues to be Hot Topic

The report indicates that in October of 2023, the “National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Taiwan” digital full-text collection officially exceeded 1 million entries, including over 750,000 degree dissertations which have been fully authorized with full-texts made available in the database. In 2022, over 100 universities reached a 100% full-text authorization rate and the overall electronic full-text authorization rate has reached a historic high, exceeding 90% (90.93%). 

Among research topics for degree dissertations, “Artificial Intelligence” continues to be an area of significant interest. A summary of the distribution of degree dissertation topics in 2022 shows a continuation of the five main popular topics from 2021: “Deep Learning,” “Machine Learning,” “Purchase Intent,” “Artificial Intelligence,” and “ESG.” In 2023, user search keywords saw “ESG” continue its popularity ahead of the other four most popular research topics, including focuses on corporate social responsibility, corporate governance, sustainable development, financial performance, and the environment. In addition, work stress, education, and childhood topics are also among popular focuses of degree dissertation searches. 

Journal Publications Reflect Significant Events, with COVID-19, Artificial Intelligence, Environmental Topics, and Geopolitics among Most Prevalent

By the end of 2023, the “NCL Taiwan Periodical Literature” journal paper database reached a collection of 3.2 million entries, with digital full-text entries exceeding 2.08 million, and reaching a high of over 9 million full-text downloads. Looking at the 10 most commonly searched keywords, it was found that “COVID-19” continues to be a popular research topic even in the post-pandemic world, with discussion topics mostly focused on virus variants. “Artificial Intelligence” research topics included focuses on “ChatGPT,” “Deep Learning,” and “Machine Learning.” Environmental topics also continue to be significant, including “Net-Zero Emissions,” “Sustainable Development,” “Climate Change,” and so on, all of which were popular topics of user focus. 

The report also looks at the over 3.52 million source literature entries and 8.17 million cited literature entries within the “Taiwan Citation Index- Humanities and Social Sciences” database, using bibliometric analysis to observe the dissemination patterns of periodical literature. In addition to conducting statistical and analytical evaluations of each journal based on “five-year citations” and “long-term citations,” the report also examines connections and contexts according to different academic disciplines and journal levels, providing humanities and social science researchers and journal publishing institutions with a valuable reference. 

NCL Thanks All Sectors for Supporting the Spirit of Open Access, Disseminating Academic Capabilities NCL Director-General Han-ching Wang expressed that Taiwan’s academic resource capabilities are established through the contributions of universities, research institutions, academic publishing units, and researchers. This report on academic resource capabilities and ethos that NCL has organized presents the general situation of how these collection resources assist readers in conducting research as well as providing insights into readers’ focus themes. This information will be beneficial to NCL in the collection of data and in providing more focus and depth to NCL’s knowledge-based services. In addition, it will be helpful for publishers and researchers to gain this understanding of development trends to inform their operation policies and research topics. At the report announcement event, Director-General Han-ching Wang specially thanked members of all sectors for working with NCL to support the spirit of Open Access, allowing Taiwan’s culture and academic capabilities to be widely disseminated and passed on to future generations within the digital internet environment we live in today.