ABS&Comment: Hyland, Academic attribution

[Gretchen Whitney]

Ken Hyland : e-mail:  enhyland at cityu.edu.hk

TITLE   :       Academic attribution: Citation and the construction of
disciplinary knowledge
AUTHOR:  Hyland K
JOURNAL:         APPLIED LINGUISTICS 20: (3) 341-367 SEP 1999

 Document type: Article    Language: English    Cited References: 41
Times Cited: 0

Abstract:
In this paper I explore the ways in which academic citation practices
contribute to the construction of disciplinary knowledge. Based on the
analysis of a computer corpus of 80 research articles and interviews with
experienced writers, the study investigates the contextual variability of
citations in eight disciplines and suggests how textual conventions point to
distinctions in the ways knowledge is typically negotiated and confirmed
within different academic communities. Clear disciplinary
differences are identified in both the extent to which writers refer to the
work of others and in how they depict the reported information. Writers in
the humanities and social sciences employed substantially more citations
than scientists and engineers, and were more likely to use integral
structures, to employ discourse reporting verbs, and to represent cited
authors as adopting a stance to their material. It is argued that these
differences in citation practices are related to the fact that academics
actively participate in knowledge construction as members of professional
groups and that their discoursal decisions are influenced by, and deeply
embedded in, the epistemological and social conventions of their
disciplines.

KeyWords Plus:
SCIENCE RESEARCH ARTICLES, REPORTING VERBS, PRAGMATICS, LANGUAGE

Addresses:
Hyland K, City Univ Hong Kong, Dept English, Tat Chee Ave, Kowloon, Hong
Kong.
City Univ Hong Kong, Dept English, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Publisher:
OXFORD UNIV PRESS, OXFORD

IDS Number:
236KU

ISSN:
0142-6001
Copyright © 1999 Institute for Scientific Information
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quote from the paper:
pg. 344-345

"PROCEDURE AND CORPUS
The study is based on a corpus of 80 research articles, consisting of one
paper from each of ten leading journals in eight disciplines (appendix):
molecular biology, magnetic physics, marketing, applied linguistics,
philosophy, sociology, mechanical engineering and electronic engineering.
These fields were chosen to both represent a broad cross-section of academic
practice and to facilitate my access to a group of specialist informants."
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Eugene Garfield, Ph.D.
Chairman Emeritus, ISI, 3501 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Publisher, THE SCIENTIST, 3600 Market St,
Philadelphia, PA 19104 (www.the-scientist.com)
Tel: 215-243-2205 // Fax: 215-387-1266
email:  garfield at codex.cis.upenn.edu
The Scientist: http://www.the-scientist.com
Home Page: http://garfield.library.upenn.edu



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