Race, whiteness, and scientific production in Library and Information Science

epistemic tensions from a bibliometric perspective

Abstract

This article presents a bibliometric analysis of the scientific production on racism and whiteness in Library and Information Science (LIS), based on publications indexed in the Scopus, Dimensions, and Brapci databases (2010–2024). The study aims to map the temporal evolution of this production, identify the most productive authors, institutions, countries, and sources, and analyze the thematic configuration of the research. The results indicate recent growth in publications, with a peak between 2020 and 2022, a period associated with sociopolitical transformations that increased the global visibility of anti-racist debates. The findings highlight the prominent role of Black women researchers in leadership positions at both international and national levels, as well as a strong geographical concentration of production in institutions located in the United States, with Brazil emerging as one of the main hubs in the Global South. In international databases, production is predominantly composed of journal articles, whereas in Brapci conference proceedings also play a significant role, particularly those from ENANCIB, evidencing the importance of these venues for the circulation of critical research agendas in the Brazilian context. The thematic analysis reveals differences between publication circuits: while international databases tend to present more transversal approaches related to diversity and inclusion, Brapci emphasizes critical and decolonial perspectives articulated around concepts such as whiteness, epistemicide, and information justice. The study concludes that, although expanding, this research agenda still shows relatively low representation within LIS scientific production and remains marked by structural asymmetries in the circulation of knowledge.