A comparative citation analysis study of master’s theses at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine and compare the type and age of cited literature in master's theses of three academic disciplines at the American University of Beirut (AUB), Lebanon. It also aims to improve the existing monograph and serial collections at AUB. Design/methodology/approach: As theses and dissertations present a convenient source of bibliographies for examination, the authors conducted a citation analysis of all master's theses completed during the period 2004-2013 in the disciplines of biology, mechanical engineering and political science. Bibliographic data were extracted from each citation in the reference list(s) and later analyzed using Microsoft Excel. Availability of all cited books and journals was checked against the library catalog. Findings: This case study reveals the extent to which the AUB University Libraries (UL) collections answer the research needs of graduate students. The findings show that engineering and biology students use a significantly greater number of scholarly journal articles than political science students, while all disciplines rely on recent publications. Practical implications-This paper's findings will prove useful to develop lists of core journals for the AUB UL. The findings will help managing existing collections and provide a base for informed decision-making as regards journal subscriptions and cancellations. Originality/value: Although many citation analyses of master's theses have been done around the world, this study is one of the few completed in the Arab world. Hence, it offers useful insight for collection development in Lebanon and the Arab world.

Citations and Citation Metrics in a Serial Assessment Using Master's Theses

“…This challenged their assumption that biologists only prioritize citation of current research. Ahmadieh, Nalbandian, and Noubani (2016) observed that 85% of serial citations occurred in the 1990s or later. Barnett-Ellis and Tang (2016) noted several general science titles among the most-cited serials.…”

“…The 80/20 Rule (Nisonger 2008) is used as a measure of citation dispersion. Several serial citation studies evaluated conformity to the rule (Miller 2011;Ahmadieh, Nalbandian, and Noubani 2016;Keogh 2012;Kuruppu and Moore 2008). A more complex measure of serial title dispersion is Bradford's Law (Bradford 1985).…”

“…Multiple studies noted challenges experienced in processing citations for analysis, due to incompleteness and inaccuracy (Barnett-Ellis and Tang 2016;Miller 2011). Citations with errant dates directly impact the validity of citation agedispersion analysis (Ahmadieh, Nalbandian, and Noubani 2016). The time required to evaluate and correct all citations in a large dataset is prohibitive.…”

Citations and Citation Metrics in a Serial Assessment Using Master’s Theses

“…Multiple studies noted challenges experienced in processing citations for analysis, due to incompleteness and inaccuracy (Barnett-Ellis and Tang 2016; Miller 2011). Citations with errant dates directly impact the validity of citation agedispersion analysis(Ahmadieh, Nalbandian, and Noubani 2016). The time required to evaluate and correct all citations in a large dataset is prohibitive.…”

Using Citation Analysis as a Collections Management Tool

“…Ahmadieh, et. al used the same approach for the same reasons (assessing their collection to determine ways in which it could be improved) as the author [7] while Abeyrathne's citation analysis covered one STEM area (in this case, agriculture) with multiple departments [8]. These gave us further proof that a citation analysis was one of the best tools currently available to understand how graduate students used library collections to assist them in the creation of their theses.…”