Citation analysis of dissertations of law submitted to University of Delhi, Delhi.

Burman, Joginder Singh

0. Introduction

In ancient period, there was lack of mode of communication. The source of extensive of ideas was assembly. When judges write opinions, they perpetually cite cases and other authorities. Lawyers, legal scholars and judges all pepper their writings with links to earlier sources. Citations within court decision are nothing but arguments themselves and shows the decision of case. Analysis of the citations employed by Legal writers offers similar promise as a tool for exploration of legal thought. (Widdison, 2002). Yet, Bibliometrics, Citation Indexing, Citation Analysis all appear to have been practiced in the legal field long before they were introduced into scientific literature. Therefore, when two Judges who are deciding different cases, cite some of the same authorities, this does mean that those cases are, at least somehow, relevant to each other (Smith, 2007).

Citation Analysis is the applied research method by librarians, teachers and information scientist to indicate the relationship that exist between cited and citing document. Martyn (1975) says, "a Citation implies the relationship between a part or whole of the cited document or the whole of the citing documents ".Thus, Citation analysis is useful for understanding subject relationships, authors effectiveness, publication trends and so on. It looks at citations to and from documents. If, there is a citation between two documents, there is some kind of relationship between these texts. This relationship can be further explored and used to learn more about the characteristics of the connected documents. (Feather and Sturges, 2003). The present study focused at deriving qualitative and quantitative analysis based on the citations collected from the end of the dissertations submitted in 2006 by the students of LLM, University of Delhi, Delhi.

2. Objectives: The study intends to identify the following objectives:

1. Form-wise distribution of documents cited by LLM Students.

2. Ranking List of the Journals.

3. Author-ship Pattern in citations.

4. Country-wise distribution of the journals.

5. Subject-wise distribution of the journals.

6. Year-wise distribution of Periodical literature.

3. Methodology: A total 3052 citations have been collected from Thirty Three dissertations available in the Campus Law Centre Library, University of Delhi, Delhi. The citations appended to each dissertation under the study were collected using a predefined 5" x 3" slips.

4. Data Analysis and Interpretation

Data collected from the source dissertations have been classified, tabulated and analyzed in accordance with the set objectives of the study. Only data belonging to the periodicals have been analyzed in depth.

Table-1 shows that out of 3052 total citations, 779 (25.52%) documents were in the form of Journal articles followed by Books i.e. 678 (22.21%) with a slightly difference. It is clearly revealed that around 50% information needs of LLM students are met by periodicals and books only. Constitutions /Statutes / Acts comes at the third with 499 (16.34%) citations followed by Reports, Web-sites, Reviews and Conventions / Conferences documents accounts to 9.27%, 8.42%, 8.02% and 6.09% respectively. 15 publications could not be identified as they were not expressed properly. The rest documents has been given in the Fig. 1.

A total of 52 Journals have been identified in Tabel-2 in the field of Law. For each Journal title listed in the ranked list rank number, numbers of citations, cumulating percentage, etc. are given. These Journals are ranked in the ascending order based on the number of citations. It shows that the literature used by the researchers in the field of Law has been scattered in 52 core Journals with 637 (81.77%) citations and remaining 87 Journals account for 142 (18.22%) citations have been cited less than 5 times. It was observed that Economic Political Weekly (EPW) ranked at the top having 56(7.19%) citations followed by American Journal of International Law with 44 (5.65%) citations of the total. More than half of the total citations i.e. 390(50.06%) covers first 17 core Journals. This rank list will be useful to the librarian as well as the researcher in ascertaining the most important journals in the field of Law.

Table 3 indicates the authorship pattern reflected in periodical articles. It was observed that single author articles contributed 622 (79.84%) citations in the field of Law followed by two and three authors contributions with 127 (16.30%) and 17 (2.18%) respectively. The remaining 05(0.64%) articles were contributed by more than four authors.

Table-4 tells that the research scholars of law have cited the periodical from 10 countries in their research. Majority of the cited periodicals belongs to the three countries and out of these USA is at the top with 57(41%) periodicals followed by India with 52 (37.41%) and UK with 17(12.23%) periodical. Less than 10% periodicals were from other seven countries. This revealed that LLM students of University of Delhi, Delhi do not use only Indian periodicals but foreign periodicals also to a larger extent.

Table 5 shows that 97 (69.78%) periodical cited by LLM students are from their own field i.e. Law followed by Science and Technology with 15(10.79%). They also cited periodicals from the field of Social Science, Economics and Education with 13 (9.35%), 11 (7.9%) and 3(2.15%) each respectively.

[FIGURE 5 OMITTED]

Year-wise distribution of cited periodical literature reveals that about 31.45% papers were cited within 5 years of their publication and more than 75.73% of the papers were cited within 20 years. However, the oldest cited paper was published more than 80 years back. For calculating the half-life of law literature depicted by the current study, a graph was plotted by taking period on x-axis and the cumulative number of citations of the periodical literature on y-axis. The total number of citations measured at y-axis was 779. Half of the total citations i.e. 390(considering each citation as an indivisible unit) meet at point 'A' parallel on y-axis. A line drawn from point 'A' parallel to x-axis cuts the curved graph at point 'B' parallel to y-axis meets the x-axis at point 'C'. Again another line was drawn from point 'B'. Distance from point 'A' to 'B' or 'O' to 'C' is the half life of periodical literature in field of law which was 11 years. Fig. 5 shows obsolescence of periodical literature.

5. CONCLUSION AND FINDINGS

Citation analysis is useful for understanding subject relationships, author effectiveness, publication trends and so on. It is essential for a librarian to identify the information needs and use pattern of the users. The following are some important findings of the study:

1. Journals articles were the major source of information used by LLM students as 1/3 of the total citations were from journal articles i.e. 779 (25.52%) followed by books 678 (22.21%) with a slightly difference.

2. Indian Journal titled Economic Political Weekly (EPW) with 56(7.19%) citations was the most used journal.

3. 97(69.78%) periodicals were from their own subject i.e. Law.

4. 622 (79.84%) citations were produced under single authorship.

5. A large number of total cited periodical were from U.S.A with 57(41%) citations.

6. The half-life of periodical literature in the field of Law was 11 years.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Dr. Joginder Singh Burman

Asstt. Professor.

Deptt. of Lib. & Inf. Sc.

K.U. Kurukshetra-136119

Haryana (INDIA)

&

Sheela, M. Phil. Student

DLISc.KUK.

Table-1. Form-wise distribution of the documents

Sr.    Forms of Documents      No. of     % age          Cumulative
No.                          Citations
                                                     No. of      %age
                                                   Citations

 1     Journals                 779       25.52        779      25.52
 2     Text Books               678       22.21       1457      47.73
 3     Constitutions/           499       16.34       1956      64.08
       Statutes/Acts
 4     Reports                  283        9.27       2239      73.36
 5     Web-sites                257        8.42       2496      81.78
 6     Reviews                  245        8.02       2741      89.81
 7     Conventions/             186        6.09       2927      95.90
       Conferences
 8     Reference Books           67        2.19       2994      98.1
 9     Newspapers                27        0.88       3021      98.98
 10    Magazines                 16        0.52       3027      99.50
 11    Not identified            15        0.49       3052       100

       Total                   3052         100        100        100

Table-2. Rank List of Journals

Sr.                        Journal Title                       Ranks
No.

 1     Economic Political Weekly                                 1
 2     American Journal of International Law                     2
 3     CBI Bulletin                                              3
 4     Delhi Law review                                          4
 5     Indian Journal of International Law                       5
 6     Journal of Indian Law Institute                           5
 7     Indian Bar Review                                         6
 8     Journal of International Economic Law                     7
 9     Journal of World Trade                                    7
 10    International Comparative Law Quarterly                   7
 11    Supreme Court Cases                                       7
 12    Journal of Intellectual Property Right                    7
 13    National Capital Law Journal                              8
 14    All India Report                                          8
 15    European Journal of International Law                     8
 16    Criminal Law Journal                                      9
 17    Harvard International Law Journal                         9
 18    Indian Journal of Public Administration                   9
 19    Centre India Law Quarterly                                9
 20    Indian Socio-Legal Journal                                10
 21    International Migration Review                            10
 22    Journal of Intellectual Property Rights                   10
 23    Supreme Court Yearly Digest                               10
 24    American Political Science Review                         11
 25    Cochin University Law Review                              11
 26    Journal of World Intellectual Property                    11
 27    Fordham International Law Journal                         11
 28    Denver Journal of International Law and Policy            11
 29    Labor Law Reporter                                        11
 30    Virginia Journal of International Law                     12
 31    Company Law Journal                                       12
 32    Chicago Journal of International Law                      12
 33    Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law      12
 34    Indian Police Journal                                     12
 35    Annual Survey of Indian Law                               12
 36    Journal of International Arbitration                      13
 37    Kashmir University Law Review                             13
 38    Murdoch University Electronic Journal Law                 13
 39    Maharishi Dayanand University of Law Journal              13
 40    European Intellectual Property Law Review                 13
 41    Supreme Court Journal                                     13
 42    Labour and Industrial Cases                               14
 43    World Intellectual Property Journal                       14
 44    Allahabad Weekly Report Bulletin                          14
 45    Andhra Law Times                                          14
 46    All India High Court Cases                                14
 47    Amity Law Review                                          14
 48    Academic Law Review                                       14
 49    Bangalore Law Journal                                     14
 50    Africa Law Journal                                        14
 51    Canadian Bar Review                                       14
 52    Cornell International Law Journal                         14
       Remaining 87 titles cited less than 5
       times i.e.1=42, 2 =64, 3=36, 4=0

Sr.      No. of     % age    Cumulative
No.    Citations
                               No. of
                             Citations    % age

 1         56        7.19        56        7.19
 2         44        5.65       100       12.84
 3         35        4.24       133       17.07
 4         29        3.72       162       20.80
 5         22        2.82       184       23.62
 6         22        2.82       206       26.44
 7         21        2.70       227       26.57
 8         17        2.18       244       31.32
 9         17        2.18       261       33.50
 10        17        2.18       278       35.69
 11        17        2.18       295       37.87
 12        17        2.18       312       40.05
 13        16        2.05       328       42.11
 14        16        2.05       344       44.16
 15        16        2.05       360       46.21
 16        15        1.93       375       48.14
 17        15        1.93       390       50.06
 18        15        1.93       405       51.99
 19        15        1.93       420       53.92
 20        9         1.16       429       55.07
 21        9         1.16       438       56.23
 22        9         1.16       447       57.38
 23        9         1.16       456       58.54
 24        8         1.03       464       59.56
 25        8         1.03       472       60.59
 26        8         1.03       480       61.62
 27        8         1.03       488       62.64
 28        8         1.03       496       63.67
 29        8         1.03       504       64.70
 30        7         0.90       511       65.60
 31        7         0.90       518       66.50
 32        7         0.90       525       67.39
 33        7         0.90       532       68.29
 34        7         0.90       539       69.19
 35        7         0.90       546       70.09
 36        6         0.77       552       70.86
 37        6         0.77       558       71.63
 38        6         0.77       564       72.40
 39        6         0.77       570       73.17
 40        6         0.77       576       73.94
 41        6         0.77       582       74.71
 42        5         0.64       587       75.35
 43        5         0.64       592       75.99
 44        5         0.64       597       76.64
 45        5         0.64       602       77.28
 46        5         0.64       607       77.92
 47        5         0.64       612       78.56
 48        5         0.64       617       79.20
 49        5         0.64       622       79.85
 50        5         0.64       627       80.49
 51        5         0.64       632       81.13
 52        5         0.64       637       81.77
          142       18.22       779        100%

Table 3. Author-ship Pattern

Sr.    No. of Authors      No. of      %age          Cumulative
No.                      Citations
                                                 No. of
                                               Citations    % age

 1     Single Author        622       79.84       622       79.84
 2     Two Authors          127       16.30       749       96.14
 3     Three Authors         17        2.18       766       98.33
 4     Four Authors           8        1.02       774       99.35
 5     More than Four         5        0.64       779        100%
       Authors
       Total                779        100%       779        100%

Table 4. Country-wise distribution of periodicals

Sr.    Country-wise       No. of      % age             Cumulative
No.    distribution    Periodicals
                                                  No. of       % age
                                                Periodicals

 1.    USA                  57        41.00         57         41.00
 2.    India                52        37.41         109        78.41
 3.    UK                   17        12.23         126        90.65
 4     Australia            03         2.15         129        92.80
 5     New-York             03         2.15         132        94.95
 6     Russia               02         1.43         134        96.40
 7     Africa               02         1.43         136        97.85
 8     Canada               01         0.71         137        98.56
 9     France               01         0.71         138        99.27
 10    East Timor           01         0.71         139         100%
       Total               139         100%         139         100%

Table 5. Subject-wise distribution of Periodicals

Sr.        Subject           No. of      % age         Cumulative
No.                       Periodicals
                                                  Citations    % age

 1     Law                     97         69.8        97        69.8
 2     Science and             15         10.8       112        80.6
       Technology
 3     Social Science          13         9.35       125       89.95
 4     Economic                11         8.00       136       97.85
 5     Education                3         2.15       139        100%
       Total                  139         100        779        100%

Table 6. Year-wise distribution of the periodical literature

Sr.        Period          No. of     % age          Cumulative
No.       Intervals      Citations
         (in years)                              No. of     % age
                                               Citations

 1           0-5            245       31.45       245       31.45
 2          06-10           133       17.07       378       48.52
 3          11-20           113       14.50       491       63.02
 4          21-30            99       12.70       590       75.73
 5          31-40            85       10.91       675       86.64
 6          41-50            56        7.18       731       93.83
 7          51-60            21        2.69       752       96.53
 8     61 and earlier        27        3.46       779        100

Fig.-1

                                % age

Journals                        25.52
Text Books                      22.21
Constitutions/Statutes/Acts     16.34
Reports                          9.27
Web-Sites                        8.42
Reviews                          8.02
Conventions/Conferences          6.09
Reference Books                  2.19
News-Papers                      0.88
Magazines                        0.49
Not identified                   0.52

Note: Table made from pie chart.

Fig. 2

                   % age

Single Author      79.84
Two Authors        16.3
Three Authors       2.18
Four Authors        0.64
More than Four      1.02

Note: Table made from pie chart.

Fig. 3

USA             41
India           37.41
UK              12.23
Australia        2.15
New-York         2.15
Russia           1.43
Africa           1.43
Canada           0.71
France           0.71
East Timor       0.71

Note: Table made from pie chart.

Fig. 4

                     % age

Law                  69.8
Science & Tech       10.8
Social Science        9.35
Economic              8
Education             2.15

Note: Table made from pie chart.