Recent research has analyzed hundreds of recently published academic works, and according to the results, many of the highly regarded scientists are using their own work for citations.
Self-citing has become a popular phenomenon, however, this practice can become detrimental to the quality of scientific research and publications available to the public.
In simple terms, citing your own works as sources is a closed loop of information, which allows for a large number of errors, if the initial research was incorrect.
One of the most prominent examples of self-citing is Dr. Sundarapandian Vaidyanathan, a faculty member at the Vel Tech R&D Institute of Technology, who has achieved an incredible ninety-four percent (94%) of self-citing in his publications. This means that only about five percent (5%) of his sources were not his own scientific researches or academic texts.
Self-citing and sourcing of information
Another big contributor to the rise in self-citing among academics is the fact that most works are the result of a collective effort.
Thus, when individual members of the author team decide to publish their own work, contacting one of their fellow co-authors for citations is an easy solution. However, this practice too poses a danger to the authenticity of research and information validation.
While years ago access to information was limited, nowadays many publications are available online and publishing houses like Pearson are making moves towards digitizing their work. Considering this, it is somewhat surprising that scholars and academics are increasingly turning to their own work for citations.
The recent study has concluded that more than two hundred (250) of the most renown researchers have used self-citation for about fifty-percent (50%) of their sources. This is a worrying tendency and researchers at the University of California have expressed concerns, asking for stricter rules when it comes to source citation.
