Disciplinary differences in the online dissemination of doctoral theses: Evidence from France's theses.fr repository

IF 2.3 3区管理学 Q2 INFORMATION SCIENCE & LIBRARY SCIENCE

Journal of Academic Librarianship Pub Date : 2025-09-18 DOI:10.1016/j.acalib.2025.103136

Matthieu Cisel, Pauline Antognelli

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Abstract

This study investigates the online visibility of doctoral theses deposited in the French national repository theses.fr. We collected metadata and traffic statistics (views and downloads) for 99,743 manuscripts defended between 2010 and 2019, using a Python web scraper. Because the repository's coverage and uptake varied across disciplines and over time, we normalized traffic counts by year of defense and discipline. Results show marked differences: dissertations in law and education sciences achieved significantly higher visibility per manuscript, whereas those in computer science, physics, and biology attracted comparatively fewer readers. These differences were statistically significant and, when combined with an analysis of dissertation titles, suggest that topic accessibility to non-specialist audiences shapes dissemination. To interpret these findings, we apply Engeström's activity theory, modeling the contradictions doctoral graduates face between open dissemination and publishers' embargo or copyright constraints. For academic librarianship, our results underscore both the uneven disciplinary reach of Electronic Theses and Dissertations repositories and the structural dilemmas that influence graduate deposit practices.

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博士论文在线传播的学科差异：来自法国these.fr知识库的证据

本研究调查了存放在法国国家知识库these .fr的博士论文的在线可见性。我们使用Python web scraper收集了2010年至2019年期间99,743篇稿件的元数据和流量统计（浏览量和下载量）。由于储存库的覆盖范围和使用情况在不同的学科和时间内是不同的，所以我们按防御和学科的年份对流量计数进行了标准化。结果显示出明显的差异：法律和教育科学领域的论文每份手稿的可见度明显更高，而计算机科学、物理和生物领域的论文吸引的读者相对较少。这些差异在统计上是显著的，当结合对论文标题的分析时，表明对非专业受众的主题可访问性决定了传播。为了解释这些发现，我们运用Engeström的活动理论，模拟博士毕业生在公开传播与出版商禁运或版权约束之间面临的矛盾。对于学术图书馆而言，我们的研究结果强调了电子论文和学位论文库的学科范围不均衡以及影响研究生存款实践的结构性困境。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Academic Librarianship INFORMATION SCIENCE & LIBRARY SCIENCE-

CiteScore

5.30

自引率

15.40%

发文量

120

审稿时长

29 days

期刊介绍： The Journal of Academic Librarianship, an international and refereed journal, publishes articles that focus on problems and issues germane to college and university libraries. JAL provides a forum for authors to present research findings and, where applicable, their practical applications and significance; analyze policies, practices, issues, and trends; speculate about the future of academic librarianship; present analytical bibliographic essays and philosophical treatises. JAL also brings to the attention of its readers information about hundreds of new and recently published books in library and information science, management, scholarly communication, and higher education. JAL, in addition, covers management and discipline-based software and information policy developments.