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Purpose: This study aims to investigate the research and citation impact of open access (OA) journals versus non-OA journals being published in the spectrum of library and information science (LIS) across the world and to further ascertain whether OA journals have greater citation counts than subscription-based journals in LIS discipline. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 116 LIS journals (58 OA and 58 non-OA) were chosen from Scimago website. After selecting the journals, Publish or Perish software program was used to retrieve the publications and their corresponding academic citations by using International Standard Serial Number of journals from Google Scholar for the period of 2011–2018. The non-parametric Mann–Whitney U-test was applied on various research and citation indicators, namely, citation count, citations per author, citations per paper; g-index, h-index, hI norm and hI annual through SPSS. Findings: Findings of the study demonstrate that non-OA journals in LIS have a significant citation advantage over OA journals. Moreover, Mann–Whitney U-test analysis rejected all the eight null hypotheses and reveals that non-OA journals in LIS discipline have greater citation counts, citations per author, citations per paper; g-index, h-index, hI norm and hI annual than OA journals. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that embarks upon a whole-scale investigation of citation impact of OA and non-OA journals in LIS, which has implications for both research and practice. This study would serve as a reference guide to all involved in scholarly communication activities including academic communities, librarians, research funders, publishers and policymakers for publishing research work, grant funding, designing policies and subscriptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]