Abstract
This case study is a citation analysis of 56 PhD theses submitted in 2005 at Wuhan University (www.whu.edu.cn) in China. The authors analyzed 10,222 citations in theses in Library and Information Science, Biology, Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, and Stomatology and reviewed and compared the characteristics of the literature cited in the four disciplines. The results revealed that in Biology and Stomatology mainly English language publications were cited whereas in the field of Library and Information Science, the cited literature came primarily from Chinese sources. In Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, citations were almost evenly split between English and Chinese sources. An appendix with tables of the journal titles cited most frequently may be used to evaluate serial holdings and to serve as a guide for students preparing their theses. In addition, the implications for library collection development policies and other technical services are discussed.
Acknowledgments
This article was edited and revised with the assistance of Yalan Qi, Systems Librarian, University of Maryland, College Park, MD and Pamela Bluh, Associate Director for Technical Services & Administration, Thurgood Marshall Law Library, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD.
Notes
1 Stomatology is the branch of medicine concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the mouth. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/stomatology (accessed 22 November 2008).
2 Evaluation report.
3 Instead of developing a formula based on the number of dissertations in each subject vis a vis the entire number of dissertations, the authors decided that the analysis and comparison would be simplified and uniformity would be maintained if 14 dissertations in each discipline were selected.
4 An administratively independent library devoted to Stomatology is connected to the teaching hospital of Wuhan University. However, this library's collection is not readily accessible through the university's online catalog, therefore its holdings were not considered as part of this study.