Declining citation accuracy in polar research
The authors are grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments that improved this paper. Access to the relevant literature used in our analyses was provided through the University of South Africa and the University of Pretoria. Accurate citation practices are important to ensure...
| Published in: | Polar Record |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247421000607 https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/87563 |
| Summary: | The authors are grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments that improved this paper. Access to the relevant literature used in our analyses was provided through the University of South Africa and the University of Pretoria. Accurate citation practices are important to ensure a robust knowledge base and overall trustworthy academic enterprise. The prevalence of poor citation practices has been assessed in multiple fields, resulting in estimates of inaccurate citations ranging typically between 15% and 25%. Here, we assessed the accuracy of citations in research articles extracted from 11 journals with a polar sciences focus. Thirty percent of citations from recent articles (published between 2018 and 2019) and 26 % of citations between 1980 and 2019 were found to be inaccurate. We found no evidence for differences in citation accuracy between the journals assessed, or effects on citation accuracy associated with the number of authors, number of references, position of references or if a citation was a self-citation or not. Importantly, we present evidence for a decline in citation accuracy between 1980 and 2019 in polar sciences. Citation practices are unlikely to improve unless journals provide incentives for scholars to be more meticulous, and we recommend active monitoring of citation accuracy and citation appropriateness by reviewers and editorial staff. http://link.springer.com/journal/300 am2022 Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology |
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