Human Resource Management research in South Africa : a bibliometric study of authors and their collaboration patterns

Abstract

Human Resources Management (HRM) as a scholarly discipline in South Africa has 60 years of history. The key outlet for scientific publications of HRM research in the country is the South African Journal of Human Resources Management (SAJHRM).This article analyses the publications that appeared in SAJHRM since its inception in 2003 to 2013. This is to examine the significance of the important variables concerning authorships (race, gender, sector and institution), collaboration. There has been no systematic study to understand the characteristics of authors and their patterns of collaboration in HRM in South Africa. This article presents a bibliometric study covering all the articles published in SAJHRM from 2003-2013. The publication records of the articles were downloaded and key variables were analysed using a computer programme.The findings provide the unique bibliometric features of HRM research in the country over the last decade. The findings contribute to the understanding of unique bibliometric features of the scientific publications in HRM specific to South Africa. It also adds to the knowledge about the demographic and institutional characteristics of scholars who publish in the journal. The identity and location of knowledge producers in the discipline assists us in understanding who the key knowledge producers are in HRM, where they are located and their collaborative efforts. This has implications for understanding how HRM as a discipline is epistemologically shaped in the South Africa as well as implications for management of research outputs of HRM departments.

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