A bibliometric analysis of doctoral dissertations about the Internet in Spanish universities (1996-2011)

This is a descriptive study about doctoral dissertations on the Internet which have been defended in Spanish universities between 1996 and 2011. The main source of information has been the Teseo database of the Ministry of Education, whose information has been completed with other sources. The total number of dissertations produced during the studied period was 1,020. Bibliometric analysis techniques have been used in order to analyze the data. Production is analyzed for PhD candidate genre, time period, theses language, topic, universities and departments, theses advisors and examination board members. These data are compared with those obtained by Fuentes and Arguimbau when studying the total production of doctoral dissertations in Spain. Results show that the doctoral dissertations have been produced in 62 different universities. Social Sciences and Law is the knowledge area with the highest number of thesis. Finally, there are an important number of doctoral dissertations which have been co-directed.