Is it possible to have a just politics of citation? Reflecting on their work to create a guide to fairer citation practices in academic writing, Aurélie Carlier, Hang Nguyen, Lidwien Hollanders, Nicole Basaraba, Sally Wyatt and Sharon Anyango* highlight challenges to changing citation practices and point to ways in which authors and readers can work towards equitable citations

Anyango, Sharon

Basaraba, Nicole

Carlier, Aurélie

Hollanders, Lidwien

Nguyen, Hang

Wyatt, Sally

English

Is it possible to have a just politics of citation? Reflecting on their work to create a guide to fairer citation practices in academic writing, Aurélie Carlier, Hang Nguyen, Lidwien Hollanders, Nicole Basaraba, Sally Wyatt and Sharon Anyango*, highlight challenges to changing citation practices and point to ways in which authors and readers can work towards equitable citations

LSE Research Online

Aspirational	Metrics:	A	guide	for	working	towardscitational	justiceIs	it	possible	to	have	a	just	politics	of	citation?	Reflecting	on	their	work	to	create	a	guide	to	fairer	citation	practices	inacademic	writing,	Aurélie	Carlier,	Hang	Nguyen,	Lidwien	Hollanders,	Nicole	Basaraba,	SallyWyatt	and	Sharon	Anyango*	highlight	challenges	to	changing	citation	practices	and	point	to	ways	in	which	authorsand	readers	can	work	towards	equitable	citations.This	post	was	originally	published	on	LSE	Impact	blog.*We	have	chosen	to	list	our	names	alphabetically	by	first	name.	None	of	the	more	usual	systems	worked	for	us.	Doing	so	is	a	reminder	that	acknowledgement	ofauthors	and	citations	remains	a	choice.They	end	with	a	list	of	cited	work,	sometimes	alphabetical,	sometimes	numbered.	First	names	are	not	alwaysincluded.	Authors	in	the	middle	of	long	lists	are	reduced	to	‘et	al’.	‘They’	are	the	articles,	books,	reports	and	otherdocuments	we	read	as	researchers.	Those	lists	at	the	end	are	important,	and	they	matter.	Citations	matter.	Theyhave	politics,	create	reputations	and	make	or	break	scientific	careers.	A	recent	Nature	article	authored	by	DianaKwon	outlines	recent	moves	to	improve	‘citational	justice’	for	women	and	minoritised	ethnic	groups.Citing,	annotating,	referencing	–	these	practices	are	central	to	all	forms	of	academic	work.	They	are	how	we	join	theongoing	conversation	of	scholars,	scientists	and	researchers,	and	how	we	contribute	to	the	accumulation	andrevision	of	knowledge.	The	details	of	how	to	cite	may	vary	between	countries,	disciplines	and	publishers,	but	it	is	acore	skill	that	we	all	learn	in	our	early	days	and	weeks	at	university.It	is	important	to	pay	attention	to	whom	we	cite,	especially	as	there	is	increasing	evidence	that	women,people	of	colour	and	other	minoritised	groups	are	systematically	undercitedAs	we	move	from	being	students	to	researchers	and	become	more	engaged	in	publishing,	citations	show	withwhom	we	want	to	connect	and	in	which	debates	we	want	to	contribute.	Citing	the	work	of	others	demonstrates	thatwe’ve	read	the	literature	in	our	field	and	acknowledges	the	intellectual	contributions	of	those	who	have	gone	beforeus.	Furthermore,	it	protects	us	from	committing	plagiarism,	the	great	academic	sin	of	taking	others’	work	as	ourown.It	is	important	to	pay	attention	to	whom	we	cite,	especially	as	there	is	increasing	evidence	that	women,	people	ofcolour	and	other	minoritised	groups	are	systematically	undercited	(see,	for	example,	Caplar,	Tacchella	and	Birner,2017;	Chakravartty,	Kuo,	Grubbs	and	McIlwain,	2018;	Fulvio,	Akinnola	and	Postle,	2021).	However,	citations	oftenhide	as	much	as	they	identify.	For	women	and	people	of	colour,	one	might	have	to	make	assumptions	based	on	firstand	last	names.	Evidence	about	other	aspects	of	identity,	including	sex	and	gender	diversity,	are	absent,	unlessauthors	make	it	explicit	in	their	work.We	recently	produced	a	guide	for	the	Female	Empowerment	Maastricht	University	network	(FEM),	innocuouslycalled	UM	Citation	Guide:	A	Guide	by	FEM.	Its	aims	are,	however,	more	pointed.	We	wanted	to	do	something	toimprove	citational	justice,	to	improve	the	visibility	of	the	contributions	to	knowledge	by	all	minoritised	groups	and	toinvite	colleagues	to	reflect	on	their	own	citational	practices.What	can	you	do	to	improve	the	visibility	of	their	contributions	to	knowledge?	In	our	Guide,	we	provide	examples	ofgood	practice	for	different	groups.	For	example,	authors	are	reminded	to	check	whom	they	quote	directly	and	whomthey	paraphrase,	as	the	former	gives	more	authority.	Students	have	an	important	role	to	play	in	reminding	theirfellow	students	and	their	teachers	to	reflect	on	gender	and	other	biases	in	reading	lists.	Editors	and	reviewers	arereminded	to	look	at	some	of	the	guidelines	produced	by	professional	associations.	For	example,	the	journals	of	theBiomedical	Engineering	Society	recommend	that	authors	include	citation	diversity	statements.LSE Review of Books: Aspirational Metrics: A guide for working towards citational justice Page 1 of 3		Date originally posted: 2022-06-17Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2022/06/17/aspirational-metrics-a-guide-for-working-towards-citational-justice/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/As	an	author,	you	can	also	consider	your	own	self-citation	practices	as	you	tread	the	fine	line	between	helpingreaders	understand	the	development	of	your	ideas	and	coming	across	as	self-promoting	and	arrogant.	Reportingon	a	study	of	self-citation,	Dalmeet	Singh	Chawla	suggests	that	men	are	56	per	cent	more	likely	than	women	to	citethemselves.Citational	politics	are	not	simple	though,	as	a	series	of	posts	on	LSE	Impact	blog	have	discussed.	Forinstance,	Nicole	Holzhauser	has	shown	how	social	capital	(including	gender)	shaped	the	twentieth-century	canon	insociology.	Eamon	Duede	points	to	how	behavioural	biases	shape	citational	practices.	And	Shannon	Mason	andMargaret	Merga	provide	a	healthy	reminder	that	less	‘prestigious’	journals	can	provide	more	diverse	research.	Theyshow	us	that	improving	citational	justice	means	looking	beyond	impact	factors	for	interesting	work.	Thus,	payingattention	to	citation	practices	should	also	be	part	of	the	calls	for	open	science.When	writing	the	citation	guide,	we	were	inspired	by	the	‘aspirational	metrics’	of	Catherine	D’Ignazio	and	LaurenKlein,	included	as	an	appendix	in	their	book	Data	Feminism:	put	simply,	this	entails	a	commitment	to	a	different	wayof	citing	work,	even	if	this	may	be	very	difficult.	For	instance,	they	wanted	to	hold	themselves	accountable	to	theirown	commitments	to	intersectional	feminism,	equity	and	transparency.	They	are	admirably	honest	and,	despitetheir	best	efforts,	failed	to	meet	their	aspirations	of	including	75	per	cent	of	their	references	and	examples	to	thework	of	women,	non-binary	people	and	people	of	colour.	In	so	doing,	they	acknowledge	their	own	position	ofprivilege	in	elite	US	institutions,	and	the	effects	that	their	training	and	position	have	had	on	their	knowledge.In	itself,	acknowledgement	is	not	enough	to	improve	the	structural	inequalities	that	hamper	the	careersof	women	and	other	minoritised	groups.	We	cannot	cite	our	way	to	equalityAs	long	as	citations	remain	a	marker	of	esteem,	reputation	and	credibility,	we	need	to	ensure	that	the	work	ofwomen	and	others	is	properly	acknowledged.	In	itself,	acknowledgement	is	not	enough	to	improve	the	structuralinequalities	that	hamper	the	careers	of	women	and	other	minoritised	groups.	We	cannot	cite	our	way	to	equality.We	still	need	to	promote	non-discriminatory	hiring	practices,	equal	opportunities	for	work	and	promotion,	affordablechildcare	and	inclusive	workspaces,	amongst	many	other	things.LSE Review of Books: Aspirational Metrics: A guide for working towards citational justice Page 2 of 3		Date originally posted: 2022-06-17Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2022/06/17/aspirational-metrics-a-guide-for-working-towards-citational-justice/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/We,	the	authors	of	this	blog	post	and	of	the	Guide,	come	from	different	academic	backgrounds,	each	with	our	owncitational	habits.	Some	of	our	discussions	started	with	sharing	our	own	citational	norms	and	practices.	We	weresometimes	surprised	to	learn	that	there	are	other	ways	of	acknowledging	the	contributions	of	those	who	haveinspired	us	and	with	whom	we	want	to	be	in	conversation.	Our	Guide	is	not	the	last	word,	but	we	hope	it	willstimulate	students,	teachers,	researchers,	editors	and	reviewers	to	reflect	on	their	own	habits	and	to	contribute	tocitational	justice	for	all.Readers	can	find	the	full	UM	Citation	Guide	available	to	download	here.Note:	This	piece	gives	the	views	of	the	author,	and	not	the	position	of	the	LSE	Review	of	Books	blog,	the	LSEImpact	blog	or	of	the	London	School	of	Economics	and	Political	Science.Image	Credit:	LSE	Impact	Blog.	LSE Review of Books: Aspirational Metrics: A guide for working towards citational justice Page 3 of 3		Date originally posted: 2022-06-17Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2022/06/17/aspirational-metrics-a-guide-for-working-towards-citational-justice/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/

Aspirational metrics: a guide for working towards citational justice

Hollanders, H.

NARCIS 

Aspirational metrics: A guide for working towards citational justice

Maastricht University Research Portal

Aspirational metrics:A guide for working towards citational justice

http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/116272/1/impactofsocialsciences_2022_05_16_aspirational_metrics_a_guide_for.pdf

Aspirational metrics: a guide for working towards citational justice

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

LSE Research Online

NARCIS

Maastricht University Research Portal