SELF‐CITATIONS IN THE LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE LITERATURE

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the rate of self‐citation in the library and information science literature. A sample of 1,058 articles was examined. 50% of the articles examined contained at least one self‐citation. Articles that were reports of research, that were written by a faculty member, that addressed a theoretical topic, or that had multiple authors were all more likely to have to higher self‐citation rates. The self‐citation rate of 50% was higher than that reported in studies of self‐citation rates in the sciences and social sciences. However, the percentage of self‐citations as related to total citations of 6.6% falls between the percentage reported in the sciences and that reported in other social sciences.

Citation

DIMITROFF, A. and ARLITSCH, K. (1995), "SELF‐CITATIONS IN THE LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE LITERATURE", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 51 No. 1, pp. 44-56. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb026942