Effect of the Web on Undergraduate Citation Behavior 1996-1999

Philip M. Davis, Cornell University
Suzanne A. Cohen, Cornell University ILR School

Abstract

A citation analysis of undergraduate term papers in microeconomics revealed a significant decrease in the frequency of scholarly resources cited between 1996 and 1999. Book citations decreased from 30% to 19%, newspaper citations increased from 7% to 19%, and Web citations increased from 9% to 21%. Web citations checked in 2000 revealed that only 18% of URLs cited in 1996 led to the correct Internet document. For 1999 bibliographies, only 55% of URLs led to the correct document. The authors recommend 1) setting stricter guidelines for acceptable citations in course assignments; 2) creating and maintaining scholarly portals for authoritative Web sites with a commitment to long term access; and 3) continuing to instruct students how to critically evaluate resources.