Citation Patterns of Conference Proceedings in Master’s and Doctoral Studies: A case study of Information Technology and Systems

Abstract

This study reports on an analysis of the use of conference proceedings by postgraduate students at master’s and doctoral levels in the field of information technology and systems at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) over a period of 10 years. The analysis was based on master’s theses and doctoral dissertations submitted by the Department of Information Technology and deposited into the web-based institutional repository and involved analyzing the various references cited. The results of the study show that conference papers are the fourth most cited materials in theses and dissertations after journal articles, books, and online sources. The types of conferences cited relate to the subject under investigation in the theses or dissertation. The conferences proceedings cited are from various international and local conferences at which the students and lecturers from CPUT have or frequently presented. This study contributes to the knowledge on the trends and patterns of conference proceedings citations in theses and dissertations. This study also contributes to the knowledge on the use of conference proceedings by postgraduate students at master’s and doctoral levels in the information systems and computer sciences. It provides an analytical framework that can be used by library managers in the collection development processes in support of postgraduate students’ research information needs.