Citation analysis of theses and dissertations submitted to the Tshwane University of Technology: Adriaan Swanepoel

Outline Background Research problem Research design Results Problems and limitations Advantages of citation analysis Significance of the study

Background

Research problem How does the use of information sources by master’s and doctoral (M&D) students differ between the faculties of TUT, and to what extent does the Library and Information Services provide access to a subset (journals) of the information sources that are mostly used by M&D students?

Sub-problems Which types of information sources do M&D students of different faculties use most and least, and to what extent does it change from year to year? Which journals do M&D students of different faculties use most and least, and to what extent does it change from year to year? To what extent does the LIS keep or provide access to the journals that are mostly used by M&D students?

Research design Nature: Longitudinal Data sources: All TUT theses since 2004 Timeframe: Retrospective Data collection: Per faculty a. Number of citations per information type b. Number of citations per thesis c. Number of theses per subject discipline d. Frequency of journal titles cited e. Cited journals owned by the library Method: Citation counting

Method Analysis and measurement (counting) of citations according to predetermined and well-defined categories Quantification and ordering/ranking of the categorized units Analysis and comparison of attained data Interpretation of the data insofar as research questions are concerned

Total theses, faculties, etc. (2004 – May 2005) Number of theses 93 Number of dissertations 11 Submitted in Submitted up to May Faculties11 Departments 40 Subjects (CESM categories*) 33 * Council on Higher Education. Classification of Educational Subject Matter

Theses, dissertations per faculty Agricultural Sciences 8 Arts 5 Business School 2 Economic Sciences 3 Education 22 Engineering 13 Health Sciences 14 Information and Communication Technology 7 Management Sciences 7 Natural Sciences 8 Social Sciences 16

Information sources cited Sound recordings, TV and film4 Personal communication132 Electronic697 Paper7141 TOTAL7974

Material types cited %N Books Journals Web sites & CD-ROMs Govt. Publications Proceedings/papers Theses/Dissertations Personal communication NGO Reports1.0483

Material types cited %N Newspapers Technical data Patents0.086 Radio, TV, film, video0.065 Maps0.032 Sound recordings0.011 Scores0.000 Graphic illustrations0.000

Material types cited %N Other Comic books0.4133

Use of journals, books, web sites & CD-ROM Average number of citations per thesis

Use of journals, books, web sites & CD-ROM Average number of citations per thesis

Use of theses/dissertations, technical data and patents Average number of citations per thesis

Journals used per faculty Faculty of Natural Sciences TitleTimes cited Journal of analytical atomic spectrometry24 Journal of the American Oil Chemists Society22 Journal of Supercritical Fluids13 Tropical Science1 Transactions of the American Fisheries Society1

Journals used per faculty Faculty of Health Sciences TitleTimes cited International Journal of Sports Medicine40 International Journal of Pharmaceutics40 Journal of Applied Psychology37 Contact Dermatitis1 Clinical Orthopedics1

Journals cited Jnl titles citedFrequency – – – – – – – – – – 69

Journals cited Jnl titles citedFrequencyLIS Holdings – 4not yet determined 715 – – – – – – – – – 691

Problems and limitations Researchers are more likely to use materials to which they have local access Citations may be added to increase the thesis’ length and scholarly appearance Researchers may cite works of marginal importance Researchers may not cite all works used to prepare the thesis Handbooks and textbooks often do not receive citations as they are taken for granted by students. Sylvia,1998:20-28

Advantages Citation analysis provides an unobtrusive method of obtaining data on which information resources are being used By using citations from theses and dissertations as data sources, even relative inexperienced researchers can gather the data easily and comprehensively Citation analysis is a method that avoids voluntary submission of data, “researchers can actually gather a true population of citations” (Zipp,1996:341)

Significance of the study

We empower people Adriaan Swanepoel Acting Director Library and Information Services (Pretoria Campus) Tshwane University of Technology South Africa