Arguably one of the most important parts of a research paper, references help to establish the credibility and reliability of the research by showing that it is based on established knowledge. Moreover, references allow readers to verify sources, explore further reading, and understand the context of the research within the broader academic community. Thus, the references that are selected for inclusion in a research paper are integral for its acceptance and
eventual publication.
Recently, there has been an upsurge in articles and chapters that have ethical problems with the references contained within. There are cases of whole reference lists being taken – essentially copied and pasted – verbatim from other sources, which throws the entire study into question. There are also problems with AI generating references and including references that are either made-up or so old as to question how they could possibly be relevant. As more and more publishers uncover ethical issues in already published work, retractions are also on the rise and cropping up in the reference lists of new manuscripts about to be published. And popular indices are delisting journals due to articles including references not directly relevant to the scope of the paper.
It is essential that researchers follow best practices for the inclusion of references in their manuscripts to ensure that they uphold ethical standards and avoid issues that could ultimately mean the rejection, or worse, retraction, of their work. Moreover, with funding and institutional mandates often requiring specific indexing, and with indices taking a firmer stance on accurate, relevant citations, researchers must be careful with the references they are selecting for inclusion.
When selecting references, researchers must be mindful of the following:
Reputable Sources
Preference should be given to references that come from reputable, peer-reviewed sources such as journals, books, and government reports. Conference abstracts, online sources, personal communications, and unpublished works often lack the appropriate peer review and should not be used.
Relevancy of Topic
The sources used should contribute data that directly ties to the work that they are being cited in. Works that do not appear to match the scope of the research being discussed typically indicate
coercive citation or citation manipulation – both unethical practices that can result in an author being banned from publishing.
Current Sources
While seminal works can be included even if they are old, it is important that current sources are primarily cited as they reflect the latest research and developments in a field. Older sources may be outdated and contain less valuable data and should be used for historical context and basic theory. Older sources may also not be readily available to readers, a problem for the reader as well as a potential problem for the author, should the source not be able to be found and appear to be “made-up”.
Original Vs. Secondary Sources
It is important to consider primary vs secondary sources with primary sources, such as original research articles and reports, taking precedence over secondary sources, such as review articles.
Retracted Sources
Sources can be retracted at any time. Revisiting the references included in a developing work is crucial to avoid accidentally citing a source that has been retracted for ethical reasons or data errors. If a source does become retracted during the development of the manuscript, it should be removed and replaced with a credible and vetted source, if possible.
Over-Citing and Excessive Self-Citing
While it is important to always cite where appropriate to avoid plagiarism, no matter how many citations that amounts to, it is important to maintain a balance between quantity and quality. Sources that truly add value to the research should be included. Overly citing one source or the same author’s work can raise suspicions of citation manipulation or other ethical violations. While it is ok to include citations to one’s previous work, there should not be an over-abundance (no more than 20% of the references) or over-exaggeration of the importance of those works. Citation manipulation and
excessive self-citation do violate most publishers’ ethics policies and are typically grounds for an author publication ban.
Originality
If a manuscript is truly written and researched by the author, and is providing new and original thought on the topic, the reference list should not be an identical match to a reference list included in another published manuscript. Researchers should refrain from copying and pasting an already published reference list into their new manuscript. Sources included in the reference list should be cited directly in the paper. Should additional sources be of value to readers, but not directly cited in the paper, they can be added to a “Related Readings” or “Additional Readings” section.
Following the best practices above will add greater value and impact to researchers’ in-progress manuscripts and ensure that they uphold the best ethical standards for citations. Questions or concerns on ethicality of references can be directed to IGI Global Scientific Publishing’s Ethics & Research Integrity Team at
contracts@igi-global.com. Interested in publishing with IGI Global Scientific Publishing? Browse the
Publish With Us Page to explore current publishing opportunities.
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