Journal Self-Citation VI: Forced Journal Self-Citation – Common, Appropriate, Ethical?

Abstract

Forced journal self-citation, as defined in this paper, has serious implications for the IS field. We introduce a statistical perspective on how common the practice is, discuss whether it is appropriate or not, and evaluate its ethicality. We find that journal self-citations do influence journal impact factors, a measure of journal quality and a tool for many schools in their promotion and tenure process. We suggest that forced self-citations are not considered appropriate by community standards nor are they ethical in terms of the greatest good. We therefore propose that impact factors be disseminated both with and without self-citations to make the practice of forced selfcitation more transparent to the IS community. An example of the proposal is shown.

Impact factor as a metric to assess journals where OM research is published

“…The information systems (IS) discipline has suggested such an approach. To reduce the possibility of “gaming” the system by journal editors, Straub and Anderson (2009) proposed that impact factors with and without self‐citations should both be made available to make the practice of forced journal self‐citation more transparent to the IS community. Straub and Anderson (Straub and Anderson, 2009, pp.…”

“…To reduce the possibility of “gaming” the system by journal editors, Straub and Anderson (2009) proposed that impact factors with and without self‐citations should both be made available to make the practice of forced journal self‐citation more transparent to the IS community. Straub and Anderson (Straub and Anderson, 2009, pp. 58) defined forced journal self‐citation as “when an editor either requires or strongly requests that an author cite articles that have appeared in the editor's journal.”…”

Journal Self-Citation XII: The Ethics of Forced Journal Citations

“…Finally, the IS profession should be interested in forced citations because they affect subsequent citation analysesa methodology used to determine journal rankings or the relevance of individual research [Clark and Warren 2006]. Forced citations affect any subsequent citation analyses, and therefore can result in false measures of the influence or impact of a journal or any individual research article [Kostoff 1998, Straub andAnderson 2009].…”

On the skewness of journal self‐citations and publisher self‐citations: Cues for discussion from a case study

“…Reference lists padded with unnecessary – or ‘strategic’ (Necker, ) – citations because of the authors’ effort to meet what they perceive to be expected by editors and publishers (Opthof, ) is the former. Citations coerced by editors and publishers (Straub & Anderson, ) – if not the reviewers (Thombs et al , ; Wren, Valencia, & Kelso, ) – to boost the journals’ standing is the latter. Under the lens of the economic theory, both the above are low‐cost and high‐reward tactics (Haley, ).…”