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Go Cite Yourself

Original Post - 30 May 2021 - Michael H. Scott

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Metric-driven academia, with its focus on h-indices and impact factors, has led to shady behaviors like citation cartels and publication bounties.

Superfluous self-citations are also shady, but a few self-citations are natural when developing a line of research. So, go ahead and post a selfie.

TWEET

Think of the baristas at your local coffee shop. When they put the tip jar out at the start of their shift, they’ll throw in a couple bucks so you, the customer, don’t feel like you’re the first to acknowledge their hard work.

After all, when searching Google Scholar, or any other database, do you feel better about downloading, reading, and potentially citing a paper that says “Cited by 2” or “Cited by 0”?

But, ultimately, write good papers. If your paper adds value, people will cite it.