oa South African Journal of Information Management - Analysis of the citation of Web-based information resources by UNISA academic researchers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of Web-based information resources on the citation patterns of academics in UNISA. The state, level of adoption and usage of the Web was ascertained as it was reflected in bibliographic reference. This article is a report on a citation analysis that was conducted of the references from the research articles published by UNISA academics in 2004. Citation counting was used to establish to what extent Web-based information sources were cited in the bibliographies of peer-reviewed research papers. A total of 458 journal articles were examined, of which 159 (34, 7%) contained Web references and 299 (65, 3%) had no Web references. Collectively, the journal articles contained a total of 20825 references of which 734 (3, 5%) were Web references. The study also included a comparative analysis of Web citation behaviour in terms of academic colleges in UNISA.