Knowledge-based society and emerging disciplines: a correlation of academic performance

Purpose Digital libraries promote and accelerate scientific research in academic institutions. The subscribed database resources of digital libraries have become an increasingly valuable asset for researchers. Database resources help generate new ideas, determine research directions and promote productive academic interaction between teachers and students in the information age. The purpose of this study is to examine the use of electronic resources by students in various databases, the research productivity of the faculty in the science network and the number of students who graduate each year. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a quantitative method to collect secondary data from the central database of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) for the population of 26 universities for 2 years (2015–2016). In addition to the HEC digital library, data was also collected from the Web of Science to determine the quality academic performance of faculty and researchers. Moreover, in the study, the total strength of teaching staff and doctoral faculty was extracted from the HEC website for investigation. The authors applied the Spearman’s correlation test to the secondary data using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 25. Findings The correlation results of the enrolled students and the downloaded papers from various databases were statistically insignificant ( p > 0.05). However, the result showed a positive correlation ( p < 0.05) between the use of selected/known databases from a number of databases accessed by the HEC. More importantly, it turns out that the faculty’s productivity in the scientific network and the number of students who graduated from public and private universities are found to be insignificant ( p > 0.05). However, the authors found a positive correlation ( p < 0.05) between doctoral and non-doctoral faculties, which show that a significant number of non-doctoral faculties are still actively involved in teaching and research. Originality/value Research based on academic activities by faculties and students, performed for the first time on the basis of secondary data, will help the HEC and university management to determine the right direction and develop plans to improve academic performance and research quality.