Citation Ethics: Journal Editor Attitudes and Practices

Increasing evidence suggests that unethical citation practices (e.g., inaccurate quotations, excessive self-citations, coercive citations, selective/biased citations, citation cartels, citation padding) negatively affect research integrity and mar the scholarly literature. This poster presents our methods to conduct of a survey of journal editors about a wide range of citation practices, some ethically dubious and some laudable.

In a previous phase, we surveyed 257 US-based researchers in receipt of federal funding (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6205453). Since surveyed researchers are likely authors of peer-reviewed manuscripts, they are inevitably affected by editorial decisions pre-/post-publication of manuscripts. However, scant research exists on editors’ attitudes about and responses to various citation practices they encounter. Therefore, in this follow-up survey,  we will query journal editors about:
- The extent to which various citation practices are perceived as unethical
- The way editors manage citation practices perceived as unethical 
- How editor attitudes and practices regarding citations vary with journal characteristics (e.g., discipline, size, impact factor, peer review model) and editorial experience.

Our research instrument consists of multiple choice and fictional scenarios inspired by existing literature from various disciplines on citation norms, our own interactions with journal editors and also Cambridge University Press’ experiences with citation ethics. Consistent with our previous methodology, we are soliciting feedback from selected editors in our network and will then pilot the survey with a small group of editors before scaling up recruitment and participation. The results of this study will help inform journal, publisher, and researcher guidance on citation practices.