The usage of articles of printed, electronic and digital journals as sources of information in library and information science theses: a bibliometric analytical study

Abstract

The current study aims to measure the extent to which researchers rely on periodicals as a source of information in their various types and forms, traditional and electronic, open access periodicals and commercial periodicals, etc., in preparing university theses versus other sources of information. The study seeks to explore the characteristics of reference citations in scientific theses for library and information science in general, and then explore the objective, qualitative and linguistic characteristics, etc., of scientific periodicals that were relied upon in scientific theses. The study aims to apply bibliometric laws to Arab and foreign scientific periodicals specialized in the field of libraries and information that were cited in university theses, which would determine the focal periodicals in the field of libraries and information, which are the most influential periodicals compared to other periodicals, and therefore are the most relied upon by researchers in their scientific theses. The study also seeks, using practical tools and statistical methods, to identify the influential authors and publishers in the field of libraries and information.