The influence of contextual factors on the adoption and development of Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD) programmes in the Arab Gulf States

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the findings from research that explored the influence of contextual factors on the adoption and development of Electronic Theses and Dissertation (ETD) programmes in the Arab Gulf States. Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives of five groups of stakeholders with an interest in the implementation of ETD programmes. The groups were postgraduate students, academic staff, library managers, system administrators, and postgraduate officers from five Gulf States universities. In addition, an online survey was conducted with 309 participants in order to test and explore, in a larger sample, the issues identified in the interviews. Findings – Research participants identified three levels of factors; contextual, institutional, and personal. In addition, they highlighted that contextual factors have an influence on institutional factors. These contextual factors include misunderstanding of plagiarism, strong economy, recencey of research programmes, and younger societies. For example, due to the recencey of postgraduate programmes in the Arab Gulf States, some of the theses and dissertations are low in quality and quantity. The Arab Gulf States have strong economies and this helped to provide the necessary technological infrastructure needed for adopting ETD programmes. Since the Gulf societies are quite young they are more likely to adopt new technologies. In addition, people at these states appear to have a weak understanding of plagiarism issues and thus they have more concerns about these issues. Originality/value – This paper provides insights about the factors influencing the adoption and development of ETD programmes in the Arab Gulf States.