Citation bias
Definition: A biased selection of papers or authors cited and included in the references section. When citation bias is present, it is often in a way which would benefit the author(s) or reviewers, over-represents statistically significant studies, or reflects pervasive gender or racial biases (Brooks, 1985; Jannot et al., 2013; Zurn et al., 2020). One proposed solution is the use of Citation Diversity Statements, in which authors reflect on their citation practices and identify biases which may have emerged (Zurn et al., 2020).
Related terms: Citation diversity statement, Reporting bias
References:
- Brooks, T. A. (1985). Private acts and public objects: An investigation of citer motivations. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 36(4), 223â229. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.4630360402
- Jannot, A. S., Agoritsas, T., Gayet-Ageron, A., & Perneger, T. V. (2013). Citation bias favoring statistically significant studies was present in medical research. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 66(3), 296â301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2012.09.015
- Thombs, B. D., Levis, A. W., Razykov, I., Syamchandra, A., Leentjens, A. F., Levenson, J. L., & Lumley, M. A. (2015). Potentially coercive self-citation by peer reviewers: a cross-sectional study. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 78(1), 1â6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2014.09.015
- Zurn, P., Bassett, D. S., & Rust, N. C. (2020). The Citation Diversity Statement: A Practice of Transparency, A Way of Life. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 24(9), 669â672. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2020.06.009
Originally drafted by: Bettina M. J. Kern
Reviewed by: Mahmoud Elsherif, Annalise A. LaPlume, Helena Hartmann, Bethan Iley, Charlotte R. Pennington, Timo Roettger, Tobias Wingen