The familiarity and use of reference management software by LIS faculties in Iran

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of the present paper is to investigate the familiarity and use of reference management software (RMS) by library and information science (LIS) faculties in Iran, and aims to identify the possible factors that lead to the application and choice of this software. Design/methodology/approach – This is a descriptive survey. Data collected by a Web-based questionnaire include both open-ended and multiple-choice questions. The questionnaires were distributed among LIS discussion groups and were sent to the e-mails of LIS faculties. Findings – Results reveal that over half of the respondents had a good familiarity with the various citation software packages and knew how to use them; 35 per cent of respondents have learned how to use these packages through formal education. “Endnote” is the most popular software among respondents. Respondents confirm the need to offer some educational programs on how to use these software packages to bachelor students, and nominated the “Academic Writing” course as the proper place for teaching this topic. Originality/value – If due attention is given to the importance of referencing in academic writing and to establishing criteria for the acceptance of papers for publication, teaching students how to carry out referencing and how to use RMS packages for this purpose will aid the promotion of scientific products. To determine whether LIS educators are able to teach the use of RMS packages, it is necessary to examine the extent to which they are familiar with these programs.

Kuwait University Faculty Usage and Perspectives of Reference Management Software

“…Another significant finding is that Endnote was the most popular software used by KU faculty, which matches several studies mentioned earlier such as the popularity of EndNote in United States and Canada [6], in Italy, Frances [1], and in Iran [15].…”

“…The most reasonable obstacle was unawareness of these tools. The majority confirmed their unfamiliarity with any of the RMS tools (58.6% = 34), whereas five respondents (8.6%) indicated their ignorance on how to use any of these tools and 25.9% (15) believed these tools are complicated and preferred the classic way of referencing. These were the options provided in the question, but four more barriers were added by the participants: 1) Sometimes these tools organise the references accurately, but not always, and they do not necessarily follow the requirements of the selected journal or publisher.…”

“…Sarrafzadeh and Hazeri [15] investigated the familiarity with and usage of RMSs by LIS faculty in Iran. Their results indicated that over half of the participants were familiar with the RMS tools and knew how to use them.…”

Scholars’ perceptions at Egyptian Libraries and Information Science departments towards the usage of Reference Management Software

“…Therewith in comparison with several previous surveys of RMS faculty preferences mentioned in the literature had a lower response rate, so these results seemed appropriate for the topic and the method chosen. (Francese, 2013); (Sarrafzadeh & Hazeri, 2014).…”

Multilingual Scholarship: Non-English Sources and Reference Management Software

“…Wu and Chen (2012) asked a small focus group of students at National Taipei University about their experiences with RMS. Sarrafzadeh and Hazeri (2014) investigated use and awareness at Persian Gulf University, Iran. Ram and Paul Anbu K. (2014) conducted a similar study in India.…”