Bibliography for Citing Theory, Behavior and Context

David Wojick dwojick at CRAIGELLACHIE.US
Mon Aug 12 15:43:28 EDT 2013


Thanks Kevin,

I agree about the computer sciences and biomedical work, which is 
extensive. (I myself have developed a full text algorithm that sorts 
articles by conceptual closeness.) In fact the problem is that this 
bibliography is likely to quickly grow beyond human comprehension, in the 
sense that no one can read all the listed works. Science is seamless (as 
your work shows) so there is no such thing as knowing the literature. This 
is why we have search engines.

Best wishes,
David

At 03:23 PM 8/12/2013, you wrote:
>Adminstrative info for SIGMETRICS (for example unsubscribe): 
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>Dear David and All,
>
>I don’t think Yves is suggesting that there is nothing left to be learned, 
>but rather that some of the posts to this topic have seemed ignorant of 
>the extensive history on this topic. I agree with both views – that much 
>history has been ignored, and that there is a huge amount left to learn.
>
>My suggestion is that we, as a community, put together a bibliography on 
>the subject. This will serve to inform us from the perspective of history 
>(which is extensive), and also help us know of recent work that can help 
>us figure out where to go next. To that end, I volunteer to start the 
>bibliography. I am by no means an expert in this area, but rather have 
>been an interested observer, collecting literature. The attached list is 
>not in any way exhaustive – it doesn’t even include all of the works that 
>have been mentioned in this thread (which I have renamed). My interest 
>comes from the perspective of citation context (and related topics), which 
>builds directly on the earlier work on citation theory, behavior, 
>motivation, reasoning, classification, etc. Thus, you’ll see that the 
>attached file is slanted in the citation context direction. This list is 
>not completely my own – some of the references have come from Dick Klavans 
>and (particularly) Henry Small, who has done much work in citation 
>content/context.
>
>You will see a number of computer science and biomedical references in 
>this list. My perception is that we are not paying enough attention to 
>relevant work being done in those fields. Biomedical and computer 
>scientists are currently doing far more work with full text sources than 
>are we. Unfortunately, there is very little cross-citation between similar 
>efforts in the three fields.
>
>In any case, to those of you who are interested, please add to the 
>bibliography and re-post it. I think a joint effort can be of great 
>benefit to us all.
>
>Best regards,
>Kevin
>
>
>
>From: ASIS&T Special Interest Group on Metrics 
>[mailto:SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU] On Behalf Of David Wojick
>Sent: Monday, August 12, 2013 12:16 PM
>To: SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU
>Subject: Re: [SIGMETRICS] The Wisdom of Citing Scientists
>
>Adminstrative info for SIGMETRICS (for example unsubscribe): 
><http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html>http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html 
>
>Dear Yves,
>
>If you are claiming that this topic has been exhausted by past work, such 
>that there is nothing important left to discover, then I disagree 
>strongly. Exciting new methods, data and insights are being brought to 
>bear, ranging from altmetrics to network theory. In fact one can argue 
>that when one applies a new approach the vast existing literature is 
>largely irrelevant by definition. (For example I am sure that no one has 
>applied my work on the structure of reasoning, so I need not look to see 
>what they have found.)
>
>I suspect this is one reason why historical citations are often found only 
>after the research is done.
>
>Regards,
>
>David Wojick
>
>At 10:01 AM 8/12/2013, you wrote:
>
>Adminstrative info for SIGMETRICS (for example unsubscribe): 
><http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html>http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html 
>Hello all
>
>With all due respect for everyone discussing here the many reasons why people
>cite a given paper, I cannot but be struck by the tendency of some to 
>reinvent
>the wheel or think (and write) as if nobody had raised those very questions
>decades before... One cannot imagine a physics discussion group where someone
>would write a comment saying "I think that apples do not fall at constant 
>speed"
>or "I think classical mechanics does not apply at the atomic level". It is 
>taken
>for granted that before talking physics one must READ the previous 
>literature.
>WHy should it be different in scientometrics?
>
>Here it seems to be accepted that one can lunch a "serious" discussion 
>about the
>"fact" that there "can be" negative citations...
>
>As a rader of sigmetrics I find a bit depressing the lack of respect for
>previous work. I do not have the time to construct a reference list on the
>question of the many kinds of reasons for citing but at least a good minimum
>beginning would be Blaise Cronin 1984 (!) book on "The citation process". 
>A more
>recent review is Loet's 1998  paper in Scientometrics on "Theories of
>citations" But the literature is huge...
>
>I guess you will now have understood why I rarely write on those discussion
>groups... But it is Sunday and an exception does not change a rule...
>
>:)
>
>Cordially to all
>
>Yves Gingras
>
>
>Le 11/08/13 11:05, « Loet Leydesdorff » 
><<mailto:loet at LEYDESDORFF.NET>loet at LEYDESDORFF.NET> a écrit :
>Adminstrative info for SIGMETRICS (for example unsubscribe): 
><http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html>http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html 
>
>Dear David,
>This is precisely the approach about "reasons" which one can attribute to 
>citations in the first article in Scientometrics 1989. For example, a 
>citation can function as a warrant or a legitimation.
>Best,
>Loet
>
>On Sun, Aug 11, 2013 at 3:40 PM, David Wojick 
><<mailto:dwojick at craigellachie.us>dwojick at craigellachie.us> wrote:
>Adminstrative info for SIGMETRICS (for example unsubscribe): 
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>
>The concept of the "reason" for a citaion is ambiguous because there are 
>different kinds of reasons, some of which have been alluded to in our 
>discussion. There are psychological reasons such as motivation, 
>sociological reasons such as convention, strategic reasons, etc.
>Being a logician my interest is simply the role that the citation plays in 
>the reasoning presented in the article. Science is after all a system of 
>reasoning, often linked by citations. Every article is itself a complex 
>structure of reasoning. I just wrote about this at
> 
><http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2013/07/10/the-issue-tree-structure-of-expressed-thought/> 
>< 
><http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2013/07/10/the-issue-tree-structure-of-expressed-thought/>http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2013/07/10/the-issue-tree-structure-of-expressed-thought/<http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2013/07/10/the-issue-tree-structure-of-expressed-thought/>  
> > 
>http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2013/07/10/the-issue-tree-structure-of-expressed-thought/. 
>
>For example a citation may be part of the introductory historical 
>narrative or it may be offering evidence supporting a strong claim, and 
>this is a significant difference. We might call these the epistemic 
>reasons for the citations. What role does the citation play in the reasoning?
>The point is that there are different kinds of reasons, which need to be 
>sorted out in any scientific inquiry into the reasons for citations.
>David Wojick
>On Aug 10, 2013, at 9:56 AM, James Hartley < 
><mailto:j.hartley at KEELE.AC.UK>< 
><mailto:j.hartley at KEELE.AC.UK>mailto:j.hartley at KEELE.AC.UK<mailto:j.hartley at KEELE.AC.UK>  
> > <mailto:j.hartley at KEELE.AC.UK>j.hartley at KEELE.AC.UK> wrote:
>Adminstrative info for SIGMETRICS (for example 
>unsubscribe):  <http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html>< 
><http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html>http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html<http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html>  
> > http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html
>Peter Willett ( <mailto:p.willett at sheffield.ac.uk>< 
><mailto:p.willett at sheffield.ac.uk>mailto:p.willett at sheffield.ac.uk<mailto:p.willett at sheffield.ac.uk>  
> >  <mailto:p.willett at sheffield.ac.uk>< mailto:p.willett at sheffield.ac.uk > 
><mailto:p.willett at sheffield.ac.uk>p.willett at sheffield.ac.uk) published an 
>interesting paper in the Journal of Documentation, 2012, 69, 1 pp??
>Showing that most readers found it difficult to detect why authors had 
>cited their references..
>
>I (James Hartley) ( <mailto:J.hartley at keele.ac.uk>< 
><mailto:J.hartley at keele.ac.uk>mailto:J.hartley at keele.ac.uk<mailto:J.hartley at keele.ac.uk>  
> >  <mailto:J.hartley at keele.ac.uk>< mailto:J.hartley at keele.ac.uk > 
><mailto:J.hartley at keele.ac.uk>J.hartley at keele.ac.uk) suggested 8 reasons 
>for citing other work (based on other scholars views)  and argued that one 
>should count citations in the reference lists and not in the texts to 
>avoid overcounting.  (Scientometrics. 92,2, 313-317.)
>
>
>From: ASIS&T Special Interest Group on Metrics [ 
>mailto:SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU] On Behalf Of David Wojick
>Sent: 10 August 2013 14:40
>To:  <mailto:SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU>< 
><mailto:SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU>mailto:SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU<mailto:SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU>  
> >  <mailto:SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU>< 
>mailto:SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU > 
><mailto:SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU>SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU
>Subject: Re: [SIGMETRICS] The Wisdom of Citing Scientists
>
>Adminstrative info for SIGMETRICS (for example 
>unsubscribe):  <http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html>< 
><http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html>http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html<http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html>  
> >  <http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html>< 
>http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html > 
><http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html>http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html 
>
>I did a small study that found the majority of citations occurring in the 
>introductory part of most of the articles. Over 60% of the citations 
>occurred in the first 25% of the text on average. This section of the 
>article is basically an historical narrative that explains the origin and 
>nature of the research problem being reported on. The cited works need not 
>have directly influenced the research being reported.
>
>Then the article typically goes on to explain what was done and what was 
>found. Here the citations often identify the sources of methods used or 
>data or some such. Direct influence is much more likely but the percentage 
>of citations may be low. Finally there may be a broader discussion 
>section, with relatively more citations.
>
>The point is that many citations may not be indicators of direct influence 
>(or impact), but rather of historical relevance. In some cases the 
>citations may well be found only after the research is done.
>David Wojick
>
>On Aug 9, 2013, at 12:45 PM, "Smalheiser, Neil" < 
><mailto:Nsmalheiser at PSYCH.UIC.EDU>< 
><mailto:Nsmalheiser at PSYCH.UIC.EDU>mailto:Nsmalheiser at PSYCH.UIC.EDU<mailto:Nsmalheiser at PSYCH.UIC.EDU>  
> >  <mailto:Nsmalheiser at PSYCH.UIC.EDU>< mailto:Nsmalheiser at PSYCH.UIC.EDU > 
><mailto:Nsmalheiser at PSYCH.UIC.EDU>Nsmalheiser at PSYCH.UIC.EDU> wrote:
>Since Katy covered one aspect of this issue, let me raise a complementary 
>aspect that I have not seen discussed yet in this forum.
>When people DO cite references in a paper, they do so possibly for very 
>different reasons, each with a different rationale and pattern of citing.
>1.        Ideally, in my opinion, an author should accurately cite the 
>previous works that influenced them in the research that they are 
>reporting. A research paper tells a story, and it is important to know 
>what papers they read, and when, and how they were influenced. So if they 
>were unaware of some relevant research at the time, it is not important 
>(and even intellectually misleading) to cite it!
>2.        Another reason that authors omit citations is on purpose – they 
>wish to make their own contribution seem new and fresh, and even if they 
>were aware of some prior relevant work, they may find some excuse not to 
>cite it [e.g. it was done in Drosophila but my study is in rats].
>3.      More often, authors attempt to identify all relevant prior 
>research, in a prospective attempt to satisfy reviewers who are likely to 
>give them a hard time if they don’t. Some authors even do this out of 
>scholarliness, though that is not a particularly valued attribute in 
>experimental science. As review articles appear on a given topic, it is 
>often acceptable to simply cite one or two reviews which hides the impact 
>of the primary papers (except for those that are most closely relevant to 
>the present article, regardless of their impact to the field at large). 
>This also means that papers will preferentially cite the most similar 
>prior papers.
>4.      Even more often, authors go out of their way to cite papers by 
>potential reviewers or editorial board members of the journal that is 
>considering the paper, or folks likely to be reviewing their grants.
>5.      A subtle variation of this is that an author will want to cite 
>papers that appeared in prestigious journals, and avoid papers that were 
>published in obscure or questionable places, to make their own paper look 
>more classy and more likely to be reviewed favorably.
>6.      Some papers, particularly methods papers or famous papers, are 
>almost pop references that provide bonding between author and reader. 
>Citing the Watson-Crick double-helix paper (or the Mullis PCR method 
>paper) is not just citing that paper, but is really a nod to a lot of 
>related connotations and historical associations. These papers are highly 
>cited because they are celebrities (famous for being famous), which does 
>reflect impact but of a different sort.
>So counting citations to measure impact is like characterizing a person’s 
>health by heart rate – it means something; it is important for sure; but 
>you need to know a lot more to interpret it properly.
>
>Neil
>From: ASIS&T Special Interest Group on Metrics [ 
><mailto:SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU>< 
><mailto:SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU>mailto:SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU<mailto:SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU>  
> >  <mailto:SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU>< 
>mailto:SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU > 
><mailto:SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU]>mailto:SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU] 
>On Behalf Of Katy Borner
>Sent: Friday, August 09, 2013 8:29 AM
>To:  <mailto:SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU>< 
><mailto:SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU>mailto:SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU<mailto:SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU>  
> >  <mailto:SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU>< 
>mailto:SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU > 
><mailto:SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU>SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU
>Subject: Re: [SIGMETRICS] The Wisdom of Citing Scientists
>
>Adminstrative info for SIGMETRICS (for example 
>unsubscribe):  <http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html>< 
><http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html>http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html<http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html>  
> >  <http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html>< 
>http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html > 
><http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html>http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html 
>
>Good discussion. Quick comment:
>Work by Bollen et al. shows that science maps generated from download 
>(click stream) data have a substantially enlarged medical area. Medical 
>papers, e.g., freely available via Medline, are downloaded/read/used 
>widely by practitioners/doctors interested to improve health/save lives. 
>However, these practitioners/doctors might not necessarily produce papers 
>with citation references.
>Ideally, 'research evaluation' should aim to capture output and outcomes.
>Many of us spent a substantial amount of our time training others, 
>developing educational materials, in administration, or improving legal 
>regulations. Research Networking systems like VIVO and others, 
>see  <http://nrn.cns.iu.edu/>< 
><http://nrn.cns.iu.edu>http://nrn.cns.iu.edu<http://nrn.cns.iu.edu/> > 
><http://nrn.cns.iu.edu/>< http://nrn.cns.iu.edu > 
><http://nrn.cns.iu.edu,>http://nrn.cns.iu.edu, provide access to more 
>holistic data (papers, grants, courses; some systems are connected to even 
>more detailed annual faculty report data) on scholar's roles in the S&T 
>system--as researchers, mentors, administrators.
>k
><http://scimaps.org/maps/map/a_clickstream_map_of_83/>< 
><http://scimaps.org/maps/map/a_clickstream_map_of_83/>http://scimaps.org/maps/map/a_clickstream_map_of_83/<http://scimaps.org/maps/map/a_clickstream_map_of_83/>  
> >  <http://scimaps.org/maps/map/a_clickstream_map_of_83/>< 
>http://scimaps.org/maps/map/a_clickstream_map_of_83/ > 
><http://scimaps.org/maps/map/a_clickstream_map_of_83/>http://scimaps.org/maps/map/a_clickstream_map_of_83/ 
>
>Bollen, Johan, Lyudmila Balakireva, Luís Bettencourt, Ryan Chute, Aric 
>Hagberg, Marko A. Rodriguez, and Herbert Van de Sompel. 2009. “Clickstream 
>Data Yields High-Resolution Maps of Science.” PLoS One 4 (3): 1-11.
>
>On 8/9/2013 3:22 AM, Bornmann, Lutz wrote:
>The Wisdom of Citing Scientists
>Lutz Bornmann <http://arxiv.org/find/cs/1/au:+Bornmann_L/0/1/0/all/0/1>< 
><http://arxiv.org/find/cs/1/au:+Bornmann_L/0/1/0/all/0/1>http://arxiv.org/find/cs/1/au:+Bornmann_L/0/1/0/all/0/1<http://arxiv.org/find/cs/1/au:+Bornmann_L/0/1/0/all/0/1>  
> > , Werner Marx <http://arxiv.org/find/cs/1/au:+Marx_W/0/1/0/all/0/1>< 
><http://arxiv.org/find/cs/1/au:+Marx_W/0/1/0/all/0/1>http://arxiv.org/find/cs/1/au:+Marx_W/0/1/0/all/0/1<http://arxiv.org/find/cs/1/au:+Marx_W/0/1/0/all/0/1>  
> >
>(Submitted on 7 Aug 2013)
>
>This Brief Communication discusses the benefits of citation analysis in 
>research evaluation based on Galton's "Wisdom of Crowds" (1907). Citations 
>are based on the assessment of many which is why they can be ascribed a 
>certain amount of accuracy. However, we show that citations are incomplete 
>assessments and that one cannot assume that a high number of citations 
>correlate with a high level of usefulness. Only when one knows that a 
>rarely cited paper has been widely read is it possible to say (strictly 
>speaking) that it was obviously of little use for further research. Using 
>a comparison with 'like' data, we try to determine that cited reference 
>analysis allows a more meaningful analysis of bibliometric data than 
>times-cited analysis.
>
>URL:  <http://arxiv.org/abs/1308.1554>< 
><http://arxiv.org/abs/1308.1554>http://arxiv.org/abs/1308.1554<http://arxiv.org/abs/1308.1554>  
> >  <http://arxiv.org/abs/1308.1554>< http://arxiv.org/abs/1308.1554 > 
><http://arxiv.org/abs/1308.1554>http://arxiv.org/abs/1308.1554
>
>---------------------------------------
>
>Dr. Dr. habil. Lutz Bornmann
>Division for Science and Innovation Studies
>Administrative Headquarters of the Max Planck Society
>Hofgartenstr. 8
>80539 Munich
>Tel.: +49 89 2108 1265 
><<tel:%2B49%2089%202108%201265>tel:%2B49%2089%202108%201265>
>Mobil: +49 170 9183667 <<tel:%2B49%20170%209183667>tel:%2B49%20170%209183667>
>Email:  <mailto:bornmann at gv.mpg.de>< 
><mailto:bornmann at gv.mpg.de>mailto:bornmann at gv.mpg.de<mailto:bornmann at gv.mpg.de>  
> >  <mailto:bornmann at gv.mpg.de>< mailto:bornmann at gv.mpg.de > 
><mailto:bornmann at gv.mpg.de>bornmann at gv.mpg.de
>WWW:  <http://www.lutz-bornmann.de/>< 
><http://www.lutz-bornmann.de>http://www.lutz-bornmann.de<http://www.lutz-bornmann.de/>  
> >  <http://www.lutz-bornmann.de/>< http://www.lutz-bornmann.de > 
><http://www.lutz-bornmann.de/>www.lutz-bornmann.de 
><http://www.lutz-bornmann.de/>< http://www.lutz-bornmann.de >
>ResearcherID:  <http://www.researcherid.com/rid/A-3926-2008>< 
><http://www.researcherid.com/rid/A-3926-2008>http://www.researcherid.com/rid/A-3926-2008<http://www.researcherid.com/rid/A-3926-2008>  
> >  <http://www.researcherid.com/rid/A-3926-2008>< 
>http://www.researcherid.com/rid/A-3926-2008 > 
><http://www.researcherid.com/rid/A-3926-2008>http://www.researcherid.com/rid/A-3926-2008
>
>
>
>
>Yves Gingras
>
>Professeur
>Département d'histoire
>Centre interuniversitaire de recherche
>sur la science et la technologie (CIRST)
>Chaire de recherche du Canada en histoire
>et sociologie des sciences
>Observatoire des sciences et des technologies (OST)
>UQAM
>C.P. 8888, Succ. Centre-Ville
>Montréal, Québec
>Canada, H3C 3P8
>
>Tel: (514)-987-3000-7053
>Fax: (514)-987-7726
>
><http://www.chss.uqam.ca>http://www.chss.uqam.ca
>http://www.cirst.uqam.ca
><http://www.ost.uqam.ca>http://www.ost.uqam.ca
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