CITATION CONTENT ANALYSIS OF MASTER DEGREE THESES IN LIBRARY AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR IMPROVED RESEARCH

Abstract

Citation behaviour as a linear relationship between two articles can be established through the study of citation in research documents (including theses) by counting and measurement of citations which are borne out of complex motives and behaviour influenced by a number of subjective factors. The aim of the study is to determine the role of in-text citation content of Master degree theses in Library and Information Technology. The study described the citation behaviour of M.Tech researches in Library and Information Technology through the analysis of 30 copies of M.Tech theses submitted at the Department of Library and Information Technology, Federal University of Technology Minna, using citation content analysis codebook developed by Zhang, Ding and Milojevic (2013) for Semantic and Syntactic analysis of citation contents. The result revealed that their main motivation for citing was to support their own arguments while most citations were positive. The study stated insights (citation location, citation disposition among other citation indexes) on how and what function citations perform in a body of discourse which can shape and improve research.