DSpace Collection:

Health information needs and information seeking behavior of pregnant women attending antenatal clinics of Jaffna Teaching Hospital

Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Health information needs and information seeking behavior of pregnant women attending antenatal clinics of Jaffna Teaching Hospital Authors: Murugathas, K.; Sritharan, T.; Santharooban, S. Abstract: Pregnant women face many challenges during the pregnancy period. They need quality, reliable and easily accessible information in order to face the challenges. The aim of this study was to identify the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of pregnant women attending antenatal clinics of Jaffna teaching hospital. The descriptive survey research strategy was used in the study. The data was collected by using interviewer-administered questionnaire. A sample of four hundred pregnant women was selected from the pregnant women attending antenatal clinics of Jaffna teaching hospital using a systematic sampling technique. Collected data from the questionnaires were analyzed using quantitative techniques in SPSS software. Correspondence analysis was performed to find out the association between the information sources that pregnant mothers used and other study variables. Majority of the pregnant women (61%) searched for information either always or often. Family members and friends were the main sources of information used by the greatest number of pregnant women (63%). It was followed by public health midwives (61%) and doctors (49%). Internet was also identified as one of the sources of information used by 29% of the participants. Participants showed less interest in mass media, books and journals. The most needed types of information were pregnancy complications (55.8%), delivery complications (54%), methods of child delivery (52%) and special tests required during pregnancy (48%). The least important type of information was exercise during pregnancy. Unavailability of information was the most restricting barrier in accessing information experienced by pregnant women. It was followed by language barrier and financial status of pregnant women. The study showed that there was a significant association between the educational level of pregnant women and the information sources they preferred (x2 = 96.3, p = 0.00). Further it revealed that there was a significant association between age group and the information sources they often used (x2 = 57.7, p = 0.03). Publishing more information in native languages of the pregnant women on web based and printed media is suggested to improve the easy accessibility of health information. The findings of the study would be useful in organizing health education programs and efficient information systems to satisfy the information needs of pregnant mothers.

Students' perspectives on plagiarism detection

Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Students' perspectives on plagiarism detection Authors: Murugathas, K.; Santharooban, S. Abstract: Plagiarism is a common problem, especially in the electronic information world. It has an adverse impact on academic integrity. Plagiarism has drawn the attention of many academic institutions to implement actions to reduce it. The study aimed to assess the students' perspectives on plagiarism detection among the final year undergraduates of the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, University of Jaffna. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using questionnaires among all the final year undergraduates (168) of the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, and a one-sample Wilcoxon signed-rank test in SPSS. The results indicated that 86% of the undergraduates have a good understanding of plagiarism. The majority of the students (90%) responded that knowledge about plagiarism is an important concept in their study programme. The analysis revealed that the students' attitudes toward plagiarism detection were significantly positive (p < 0.05) and that the students positively perceived the introduction of the plagiarism detection tool in the undergraduate study programme. Eighty-six percent (86%) of students said the iThenticate detection tool gives them the confidence to write quality reports at the end. The majority of the students (83 %) responded that it was difficult to rewrite the report to reduce the percentage of similarity. The paper concludes with a recommendation that the undergraduate students of Allied Health Sciences need training in academic writing skills and a detailed demonstration of the iThenticate detection tool. The findings of the study can help academics to implement the necessary actions to support students in reducing plagiarism.

Bibliometric analysis of the most cited articles in urolithiasis

Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Bibliometric analysis of the most cited articles in urolithiasis Authors: Murugathas, K.; Navaneethakrishnan, S. Abstract: Urolithiasis is a common kidney disease affecting people in the world. The study aimed to carry out a bibliometric analysis of the most cited articles in urolithiasis and to identify the impact of research, active journals, productive country, and productive institution. The top most cited 100 publications indexed in the Scopus database were retrieved as study sample. The period of the study was limited up to the year 2019. The study gives an understanding of the global research trend and the impact of research publications among the scientific community. Twenty-five percent (25%) of the most cited articles were published between the years 2004 and 2007.The average citation per article was 542. The United States was the most productive country in the world regarding the research in this field. The Emory University of Atlanta in the United States was the highest contributing institution on urolithiasis research. Internationally more prominent weekly published general medical journals such as New England Journal of Medicine and Lancet, were the most active journals publishing mostly cited articles in urolithiasis. The findings of this study is useful to the researchers, who involve in research in urolithiasis. The study provides intellectual milestones in urolithiasis research reflecting the characteristics of the most cited published literature.

Awareness of predatory open access journals among academics of the Faculty of Management and Business Studies at the University of Jaffna

Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Awareness of predatory open access journals among academics of the Faculty of Management and Business Studies at the University of Jaffna Authors: Janen, T.; Murugathas, K.; Kupeshan, R. Abstract: Open Access (OA) is a model for publishing scholarly peer-reviewed journals, and articles can be freely read, as the publishing is funded through the Article Pro-cessing Charges (APC) other than subscription. The development of open access publishing created a pathway for predatory publishing, which is an exploitive profit-making academic business, charging publication fees from authors without providing quality editorial service. The issue becomes a serious problem for the researchers to differentiate a legitimate publication from a predatory publication. This article aims to measure the awareness of predatory open-access journals among academics. The population of the study was permanent academic staff members attached to the Faculty of Management and Business Studies, University of Jaffna. There was a total of 52 academic staff members, so there was no sampling; all staff members were included in the study. A pretested online questionnaire was circulated among academics from the Faculty of Management and Business Studies, Univer-sity of Jaffna. Among the total(n=52) population, 67.3% of the staff responded to the questionnaire. The results of this study revealed that 22.85% of the staff were fully knowledgeable about the open-access system, 40% knowledgeable, 25.71% somewhat knowledgeable, and 11.42% slightly knowledgeable. Faculty members prioritized the listed factors considered during the journal selection, such as duration of the publication process, impact factor, the peer review process, quality of the editorial board, publication costs, editorial support, and journal indexing. Weight score calculated based on the preference level and Journal indexing (209) was highly prioritized by the respondents, followed by the impact factor (179), publication cost (177), and peer review process (168) in journal selection. Nearly 70% of the study participants know about predatory publishing, and 28.5% of the respondents may have heard about it, but they were not sure about predatory publications. Among the respondents, all were aware of at least any systems to differentiate the predatory journal from the legitimate journal. The study suggests that there is a need to conduct more awareness programs to educate the predatory open-access publications to the academic staff members of the Faculty of Management and Business Studies of the University of Jaffna.