Theses and dissertations in institutional repositories: an Asian perspective

Abstract

Purpose – Institutional repositories constitute an integral part of present day digital libraries allowing global access to scholarly publications and provides an opportunity for future research enhancement and long term preservation of information. Electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) represent a growing segment of available content in institutional repositories where they contribute to the impact and ranking of their institutions. The present study traces the growth and development of online e-theses repositories in Asia within the broader framework of open access. Design/methodology/approach – The present study tries to discover the composition of ETD repositories in Asia based on the seven key parameters, i.e. country, types, language, disciplines, software, content types and repository policies. To achieve the stated objectives, the ETD repositories developed by Asian countries were identified by selecting the database of OpenDOAR (Directory of Open Access Repositories) and the retrieved data were thoroughly analyzed for the necessary information. Findings – Theses and dissertations are considered an important part of information resources in any institution. They are often the only source of research work. Unfortunately, access to these valuable unpublished resources is often restricted to parent institution only. The authors found that ETD repositories are addressing this problem by making institutional knowledge available online and thereby not only increasing its visibility and use, but also making them contribute to the impact and ranking of their institutions. Asian countries are beginning to embrace the idea of digitizing, archiving and making their theses and dissertations available online. The study found that more than half of all IRs listed in the directory of OpenDOAR contain ETDs. ETD system is growing fast in some Asian countries. However, the number of universities having e-theses repositories is meager considering the large number of quality academic and research institutions across Asian countries. Practical implications – The paper argues that ETD repositories not only benefit students and institutions by enhancing education and expanding research, but also by increasing a university’s visibility and use and thereby contributing to the impact and ranking of its parent institutions. Originality/value – The study hopes to heighten awareness of research being conducted in Asia and its contribution to a global knowledge base. Some of the suggestions to improve the existing conditions and strengthen the growth rate of ETDs in Asia are also presented.

Evaluation of institutional repositories of South Asia

“…Majority of the IRs are functional in nature except for Afghanistan (Table III). Operational status in the majority of the repositories has also been ascertained by Abrizah et al (2010), Ahmed et al (2014), Ali et al (2013), Loan and Sheikh (2016), Singh (2016) and Wani et al (2009).…”

“…They also found that majority of the repositories are "institutional" in nature with English as dominating content language and "DSpace" as the prioritized content management software. Ahmed et al (2014) "trace the growth and development of online e-theses repositories in Asia and reveal that the growth pattern is on increase with Japan, India, and China among the top contributors. "English" stays the preferred content language with majority of the repositories, operational in nature.…”

“…Roy et al (2013) found "journal articles," "conference and workshop papers" and "theses and dissertations" as the main content in the OARs. Ahmed et al (2014) have found "e-theses," "journal articles," "conference papers," "unpublished works," "books," and "data sets" among the highly populated content in the repositories. Pinfield et al (2014) also witness "journal articles," "theses and dissertations" and "unpublished reports and working papers" as the main content archived in repositories.…”

“…However, Roy et al (2013) have found that content management policies (metadata re-use policy; data re-use policy; content policy and submission policy) are prominent in the repositories with a weaker status in terms of preservation policies. Ahmed et al (2014) have also identified that the majority of the repositories have an undefined policy for content submission and preservation. "A small percentage of ETD repositories have defined recorded content policies, recorded submission policies, and recorded preservation policies.…”

Dissertation to Book? A Snapshot of Dissertations Published As Books in 2014 and 2015, Available in Open Access Institutional Repositories

“…Clement (n.d.) has also published on the number of institutions dropping their requirements for students to submit their dissertations to ProQuest in favor of their own institutional repositories, and has noted elsewhere that ProQuest's holdings of dissertations have always been incomplete (Clement, 2013). Other articles examined the number of IRs with ETDs in Asian countries (Ahmed, Alreyaee, & Rahman, 2014) or usage of ETDs by in-state or out-of-state users (Coates, 2014). While these articles take for granted the assumed benefits of OA theses and dissertations, some earlier pieces expressly make the case for their value, arguing against potential objections.…”