INTERNATIONAL NORMS AND STANDARDS FOR AUTHORS
Citations, borrowed words, and plagiarism
Is there a threshold value for a share of borrowed (correctly, by citing) text in the overall page count of a publication?
The extent of citation is defined by its reasonableness: genre of scientific writing type (research paper, literature review) allows making a large quotation (to minimize for the reader the need to refer to a source) or citing only a necessary passage (to persistently cross-refer) – to draw extra attention to this source.
Can I use other authors’ thoughts or ideas without using their text?
You can’t without referencing the sources.
Only brief mention with reference is allowed.
When detailed outline is necessary, you should use all possible grammatical and lexical ways to set clear boundaries between your own and other authors’ thoughts and conclusions.
Why can’t I excessively cite myself?
As it was noted above, the extent of citation is defined by reasonableness and ethics:
· making a large quotation means to minimize the reader’s need to refer to the quoted source, whereas citing only a brief passage urges the reader to find the quotation source and that way attracts extra attention to it
· duplicate publication violates research and publication ethics
· self-referencing prevailing over referencing to other authors has negative impact on my academic authority and my scientometrics
International norms of quotation in scientific texts
· There should be no borrowed words without references to sources!
· Citations and references to other authors’ works must be correct and accurate.
· The authors should not copy references from other publications without checking these references personally.
· The extent of quoted text must correspond to quotation tasks.
· Direct quotation from other researchers’ work must be put between quotation marks and accompanied by appropriate reference.
· Large fragments of quoted text must be either:
- formatted in special way, using other fonts and, if possible, typographic alignment;
- moved to an appendix.
Isn’t the requirement to increase the number of references in contradiction with the requirement of originality and self-sufficiency?
The references should be numerous! – It is necessary to demonstrate wide knowledge of the researched subject and of the current state of science.
Citation and referencing in academic articles
I keep reading all the cutting-edge literature in my field of study, I’m aware of contemporary science development, therefore reference lists in my articles should be large enough (but without needless sources) and composed mostly of:
1) presently topical (published no later than 5–10 years ago) academic articles from authoritative internationally indexed Russian and foreign scientific journals (50:50 %)
2) references to other authors’ works (80 %) – not mine, not those of my colleagues nor authors affiliated with my organization
3) references to publications in other journals.
Please be advised! It is not recommended to cite:
- a dissertation or a monograph;
- conference papers published in a small printing run, if there are academic articles by the same author on the same subject;
- sources having no scientific authority;
- educational material that relates statements widely known in science and/or adapted for students.
It is recommended to cite official publications as bottom bibliographic references, rather than include them in the article reference list.
Which kind of literature should be prioritized in referencing?
Please cite publications of scientific authority from journals having high impact factor and high positions in the international scientific databases and citation platforms.
Why and for what should I translate my references in English and/or transliterate? I know the rule: references are provided in their original publication language, and most sources that I’m citing are in Russian.
It’s because I want:
- my colleagues not speaking Russian to read my article and cite my work
- bibliographic information about my article to be available for processing in scientific databases oriented to Roman alphabet
- my carefully composed and error-free reference lists to be incorporated without any technical obstacles into scientific databases and citation platforms, in order to favorably influence the scientometrics of authors whose works I’m citing; and I expect my colleagues to act the same way as I do.