Citations in Academic Journals

Where are you hearing these sorts of things?

jespah-

The following is the website address of the article that I read:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/20/us/dorian-abbot-mit.html?searchResultPosition=1

I should have written "read" not "heard."

Mea culpa.

Thanks; that's a lot clearer.

Looks like they're just saying 'should' cite more diverse sources.

Which, all things being equal, is a laudable goal. And another laudable goal (more than the first) is to cite well-researched pieces which support and/or confirm the points the writer is making.

Those well-researched pieces? The race, gender, etc. of their authors shouldn't matter.

Yet here we are.

Also, some of the lack of diversity in works to cite may be due to just not being able to find any. That's not a slam on researchers; it's potentially an indication of university admissions committees and peer-reviewed journals not being receptive to new ideas and/or people who are members of minorities.

If that's what's really going on, then the fault lies with them, and not with the author trying to find citations.

Last point: academia means publish or perish. Taking an inordinate amount of time to find diverse citations doesn't serve authors at all. I know the world (particularly the press) loves snap decisions and soundbites. So if the lack of citations in a piece is due to something practical like an assistant being down with Covid (or not being able to find more obscure journals), then the press and a lot of the public doesn't want to hear it.

Those obscure journals need to get some traction and be less obscure. The authors need more or better assistants if that's the reason. But that's a lot less glamorous than claiming bias.

jespah-

Thank you.

You speak of "being receptive to new ideas and/or people who are members of minorities."

My comment is, is one thing and will lead to the dissemination of those new ideas.

Whereas being receptive to people who are members of minorities is something else entirely. Is it your point that journals be receptive to Oprah?

I recommend that there never be a policy for a group only policies for individuals.

If attention had been focused on in the years leading to the presidential election of 2016, I believe Donald Trump might not have been elected.

Nope, and sorry if I was unclear.

Academic journals, scientific journals, etc. don't get papers from Oprah. They get them from actual professors or scientists, depending on the journal.

If the (just to throw a name out because it's easy) New England Journal of Medicine is actively not accepting papers from people of color, then that's a huge problem. If people of color are being actively discouraged from submitting papers there, then that's a problem as well.

If the papers have merit, then they should be accepted, full stop.

The policy should be to accept meritorious papers with provable conclusions in them.

Even if the author is a person of color.

Even if the author is female.

Even if the author is Islam.

Even if the author is a Communist.

Even if the author is disabled.

Even if the author is a horrible, nasty human being.

The paper is what should be accepted or rejected, and not the person. And I hope that prestigious journals behave this way.

jespah-

I hope so too, though I think that some journals receive a larger number of meritorious papers with provable conclusions than they can publish. I think that they try to select the best one(s). Admittedly, the process is subjective.