Bibliometric Study of Authorship Patterns and Degree of Collaboration of Authors Cited in Masters of Law (LL.M) Degree Theses Submitted to the Faculty of Law Rivers University, 2015-2023

Abstract

The study examined bibliometric study of authorship patterns and degree of collaboration of authors cited in LLM degree theses submitted to the faculty of law from 2015-2023. The study adopted a documentary analysis method for the study. The population of the study was a total of 85 Masters of Law (LLM) degree theses submitted to the faculty of Law, randomly selected from 2015-2023 in 12,015 articles. Meanwhile a checklist was designed for data collection hence, data was analysed using descriptive statistics. Findings indicated that single authors made the highest contribution in the field of Law as they dominated the authorship pattern in the study. Also followed were corporate authors, two authors, three authors, and the least which is four authors’ contribution. The degree of collaboration (DC) is 0.187 which indicated that faculty of Law LLM Theses are in favour of single authors, whereas researchers in the field of Law therefore undertook lesser collaborative research. The study therefore recommends that; Mentorship in research should be champion by senior academics in all fields and research contributions should not be centered on the basis of appraisal and recognition of lead authors instead, collaborative efforts should be encouraged in addition to the quality of the research among others.