Assessment of In -Text Citations and Referencing Styles Adopted in Theses Submitted to University of Ilorin Postgraduate School between 2010 and 2016
Authors : TundeShamsudeen AJIBOLA & AbdulwahabOlanrewaju ISSA
This study assessed in-text citations and referencing styles adopted in theses submitted to the University of Ilorin Postgraduate School between 2010 and 2016. The objectives of the study were to: identify the number of theses submitted to the University of Ilorin Postgraduate School according to the faculties and departments; assess the departmental, faculty and postgraduate school requirements for the submission of doctoral theses; identify the predominant in-text citations and referencing styles adopted in the submitted theses; examine the accuracy in the use of in-text citations and referencing styles adopted; ascertain the consistency in the use of in-text citations and referencing styles adopted; and assess the uniformity in the use of in-text citations and referencing style formats adopted. The study adopted citation analysis design of the qualitative method. Purposive sampling was used to select 255 Ph.D. theses out of 683 doctoral theses from 12 faculties and over 50 departments offering postgraduate programmes in the institution. The document review, checklist, personal observation and interview were the data collection instruments. Six research questions were answered using qualitative content analysis. The findings revealed that Faculty of Education had the highest number of Ph.D. theses (203) submitted during the period. There were variations in the referencing methods used in the theses. However, APA was the most predominantly used citation formats, though with errors, inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the reference citations, which were found to have improved in correctness and appropriateness in both the in-text citations and reference since 2015. Also, there was lack of uniformity in the referencing styles adopted. The study concluded that there was a low quality in-text citations and referencing and lack of uniformity in the presentations in the submitted theses. It therefore recommended the issuance of the University of Ilorin Manual of Styles to provide guides for writing theses and dissertations, employing all strategies for enforcing compliance.
Keywords – In-text Citations, Referencing Styles, Ph.D. theses, University of Ilorin Postgraduate School, Nigeria.
DOI : 10.26761/IJRLS.6.1.2020.1312 DOI URL: https://doi.org/10.26761/ijrls.6.1.2020.1312
Cite This Article As: AJIBOLA,T. & ISSA, A. (2020). Assessment of In -Text Citations and Referencing Styles Adopted in Theses Submitted to University of Ilorin Postgraduate School between 2010 and 2016. International Journal of Research in Library Science (IJRLS), 6(1),117-138. www.ijrls.in
Copyright © 2020 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0.
Publication Date : 6 July 2020 Hits : 545