An extensive 24-year analysis of scholarly data indicates that academics in 12 countries are significantly increasing self-citations, pointing to potential policy-driven incentives. Published in PLoS ONE on December 29, the study evaluated citation patterns across 50 countries with over 100,000 publications indexed in the Scopus research database from 1996 to 2019.
While 38 countries experienced a decline in 'country self-citations,' researchers in Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Malaysia, Pakistan, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and Ukraine exhibited an upward trend in citing their own papers. The study builds on previous research highlighting excessive self-citation practices in Italy linked to a controversial policy implemented in 2010.
Introducing a new metric, SRII, the researchers observed a more nuanced self-citation pattern, allowing for fair comparisons between countries. The study identified that all 12 nations witnessing a surge in self-citation have policies directly or indirectly encouraging high citation counts.
Alberto Baccini, co-author and economist at the University of Siena, urges countries to reconsider policies that reward scientists based on citation metrics, emphasizing the severity of the issue. Jevin West from the University of Washington underscores the need to analyze policies in the remaining 38 countries to comprehensively understand the impact on self-citation patterns.
Despite notable correlations between the metrics for most countries, China stands out with an increase in 'inwardness' but a decrease in SRII, attributed to rising international collaborations. Sociologist Marco Seeber praises the study's methodological soundness, emphasizing the link between policies and behaviors.
West suggests alternatives to metrics-based evaluations, such as combining peer review with metrics, to prevent incentivizing undesirable behaviors. Baccini emphasizes that the issue extends beyond the identified dozen countries, highlighting a pervasive 'publish or perish' culture globally. Analyzing self-citation degrees and within-country citations, according to West, is crucial to align policies with the broader goals of promoting quality scientific research.
