Analysis of the Research Methodology in Spanish Doctoral Theses on Handball. A Systematic Review

Difficulties in Accessing the List and Full Text of the Defended PhD Theses from Medical Schools: a Retrospective Case Study from Croatia

OBJECTIVE

To conduct scientometric studies on PhD ("Doctor of Philosophy") theses (i.e., doctoral theses), researchers should be able to access the theses. We aimed to explore how to obtain a list and full text of the defended PhD theses from medical schools in Croatia over 30 years (from the beginning of 1992 to the end of 2021).

METHODS

We tried to obtain information from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, the National and University Library in Zagreb (NSK), universities, medical schools and online repositories.

RESULTS

We could not find a single list (source) of all PhD theses. Based on 4 different sources (website of the University of Zagreb and Medical School in Rijeka; school administrator from Split; library catalog from Osijek), we gathered information that from the beginning of 1992 to the end of 2021, there were 2955 PhD theses defended at medical schools in Croatia - 357 in Osijek, 550 in Rijeka, 337 in Split and 1711 in Zagreb. In May 2022, the online Croatian Digital Dissertations Repository contained 631 (22%) of full-text theses in Portable Document Format (PDF). University of Zagreb School of Medicine has its own repository that holds the full text of 834 (49%) of their PhD theses. One of the three PhD programs of the University of Split School of Medicine, namely Translational Research in Biomedicine (TRIBE), published full texts of all PhD theses defended at that program on its website. NSK held 2650 (90%) of the theses in a printed version.

CONCLUSION

It was extremely challenging to access the list and full texts of doctoral theses defended in Croatia. Making PhD theses publicly available would ensure transparency and enable analyses that should improve scientific policy.

The Most Common Handball Injuries: A Systematic Review

Handball is a team sport involving a great physical demand from its practitioners in which a high number of injuries occur, affecting individual and collective performance. Knowledge of the injuries is of great importance for their prevention. The objective of the present study was to identify, locate and compare the most frequent injuries and injury mechanisms in handball practice. It was carried out following the Preferred Informed Item for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. The source of data collection was direct consultation of the PubMed and Medline databases. Several keywords were used for the documentary retrieval, and the quality of the studies that were selected was evaluated. Of the 707 studies retrieved, only 27 were considered appropriate for the review, and quality scores were obtained that ranged from 10 to 26 points, out of a maximum of 28. The most frequent injuries in handball players are located in the lower limbs (thigh, knee and ankle), and in the shoulder in the upper limbs. Regarding the playing position, the players who play over the 6-m line are the most affected by injuries, while the women players have a higher probability of injury. Most injuries occur during competition.