Scientific Social Networks in the Mirror of Iranian Academic Research: A Systematic Review Using the Kitchenham & Charters Model

With the spread of Web 2, social networks became more popular. Social networks are used in various fields and scientific fields due to their capabilities and facilities. This study aims to analyze published Persian research on scientific social networks systematically. The present study is applied research with a systematic review approach using the Kitchenham and Charters model, which consists of 7 steps: question design, database identification, benchmarking, search process, selection, extraction, analysis, and data quality evaluation. The statistical population comprises 83 studies indexed in Persian databases (Elmnet, Irandoc, Magiran, Noormags, SID, Civilica, ISC) published in scientific and social networks. Findings showed that the study of scientific, social networks has been started since 2012, and about 84 studies have been published in this field. Among different years, in 2018, the most works were published. About 215 authors were involved in writing these works, of which 51.6% were women and 48.4% were men, 48.8 were faculty members and 50.2 were non-faculty members. The specialty of most writers was knowledge and information science. Thematically, the study of indicators and capabilities of scientific social networks with 23 studies is in the first place, presence and use of scientific social networks with 20 titles in the second, review of various aspects of social networks with 15 titles in the third, cooperation networks with 12 titles in the fourth and general scientific social networks and construction of research profiles in them with four titles placed in the fifth rank. In conclusion, researchers try to study the activities of the universities of the Ministry of Science and the activities of medical universities. Most of the published research was in the form of articles published in scientific journals or at scientific conferences. Also, most were published in collaboration with three or four authors.