2. Citation analysis of theses and dissertations submitted to the Tshwane University of Technology: 2004 - 2005 Adriaan Swanepoel swanepoelaj@tut.ac.za

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

4. Background

5. 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?

6. 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?

7. 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

8. 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

9. Total theses, faculties, etc. (2004 – May 2005) Number of theses 93 Number of dissertations 11 Submitted in 200463 Submitted up to May 200541 Faculties11 Departments 40 Subjects (CESM categories*) 33 * Council on Higher Education. Classification of Educational Subject Matter

10. 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

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

12. Material types cited %N Books38.803094 Journals36.472908 Web sites & CD-ROMs7.71615 Govt. Publications4.82 384 Proceedings/papers3.11248 Theses/Dissertations1.86148 Personal communication1.44115 NGO Reports1.0483

13. Material types cited %N Newspapers1.0080 Technical data0.2318 Patents0.086 Radio, TV, film, video0.065 Maps0.032 Sound recordings0.011 Scores0.000 Graphic illustrations0.000

14. Material types cited %N Other3.05243 Comic books0.4133

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

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

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

18. 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

19. 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

20. Journals cited Jnl titles citedFrequency 10881 – 4 715 – 9 2310 - 14 315 – 19 520 – 24 225 – 29 330 – 34 235 – 39 240 – 44 045 – 64 165 – 69

21. Journals cited Jnl titles citedFrequencyLIS Holdings 10881 – 4not yet determined 715 – 912 2310 - 147 315 – 191 520 – 244 225 – 290 330 – 341 235 – 391 240 – 441 045 – 640 165 – 691

22. 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

23. 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)

24. Significance of the study

25. We empower people Adriaan Swanepoel Acting Director Library and Information Services (Pretoria Campus) Tshwane University of Technology South Africa swanepoelaj@tut.ac.za