Cite me! perspectives on coercive citation in reviewing
Loading...
Date
2024
Authors
Burton, Suzan
Basil, Debra
Soboleva, Alena
Nesbit, Paul
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Abstract
Purpose
This study builds on previous discussion of an important area for both academics and academic journals – the issue of reviewers inappropriately asking for (or “coercing”) citation of their own work. That situation creates an opportunity for (hopefully a small number of) academics to engage in unethical behaviour, often with the goal of increasing their citation count. This study aims to draw attention to this often-overlooked issue, critically considering potential reviewer motivations and offering possible remedies.
Design/methodology/approach
This study reviews literature and critically discusses this issue, offering a typology for coercive citation suggestions and sharing previously unpublished commentary from Editors of leading journals.
Findings
This study provides a typology of reviewer motivations for coercing citations, suggests potential remedies and considers the positive and negative impacts of these suggestions.
Originality/value
This study identifies an area known from multiple discussions to be important to academics and Editors, where many want changes in journals’ practices. In response, this study provides recommendations for easy changes that would decrease the opportunity for unethical behaviour by reviewers and also, for some journals, improve the quality of reviews.
Description
Open access article. Creative Commons Attribution International license (CC BY 4.0) applies
Keywords
Coercive citation , Academic review , Ethics , Conflict of interest , Academic publishing
Citation
Burton, S., Basil, D. Z., Soboleva, A., & Nesbit, P. (2024). Cite me! Perspectives on coercive citation in reviewing. Journal of Services Marketing, 38(7), 809-815. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSM-08-2024-0387