Is the Use of Reference Managers Driven by Necessity or Policy Pressure?

Abstract

The use of a reference manager (RefWorks, Mendeley, EndNote, Zotero) has become very important in the writing of scientific papers for students and lecturers. The Faculty of Economics of Semarang State University (FE UNNES) has called on students to use a reference manager when composing a thesis. This study aims to analyze factors that influence the utilization of reference managers by FE UNNES students. The theories used are the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The research population was students working on their theses at FE UNNES. The data collection method used is a questionnaire distributed online to respondents through the Google platform. The data analysis method used is path analysis. The results show that performance expectancy and social influence have positive and significant effects on a student's intention to use a reference manager. Meanwhile, effort expectancy is not proven to have a significant effect on a student's intention to use a reference manager. Effort expectancy, performance expectancy, and social influence have a significant effect on the use of reference managers. Other results show that behavioral intention, lecturer guidance, and policy pressure do not significantly influence the use of reference managers. The results of this study demonstrate that the use of reference managers by students is more influenced by perceptions of their usefulness. That is, students assume that the use of a reference manager is a necessity.