Citations: what, when, how and why!!. What are citations for?

Citations: what, when, how and why!!

Citations: what, when, how and why!!

What are citations for?


1. Giving credit to others



2. Referring compactly to facts or ideas




3. Tracing the thread of argument




3. Tracing the thread of argument

4. Bean counting

The first journals appeared in the 1600’s

Peer review was relaxed

Citation was vague



Citation was vague

Youatt, who was probably better acquainted with the works of agriculturalists than almost any other individual, and who was himself a very good judge of an animal, speaks of the principle of selection as 'that which enables the agriculturist, not only to modify the character of his flock, but to change it altogether. It is the magician's wand, by means of which he may summon into life whatever form and mould he pleases.' Lord Somerville, speaking of what breeders have done for sheep, says: 'It would seem as if they had chalked out upon a wall a form perfect in itself, and then had given it existence.' That most skilful breeder, Sir John Sebright, used to say, with respect to pigeons, that 'he would produce any given feather in three years, but it would take him six years to obtain head and beak.’ Darwin, 1859, Origin of Species, Ch. 1



Citation was vague

"it is astonishing," as Mr. B. D. Walsh(3) has remarked, "how many different organs are worked in by nature, for the seemingly insignificant object of enabling the male to grasp the female firmly." The mandibles or jaws are sometimes used for this purpose; thus the male Corydalis cornutus (a neuropterous insect in some degree allied to the Dragon-flies, &c.) has immense curved jaws, many times longer than those of the female; and they are smooth instead of being toothed, by which means he is enabled to seize her without injury.(4)3 'The Practical Entomologist,' Philadelphia, vol. ii. May, 1867, p. 88.4 Mr. Walsh, ibid. p. 107. Darwin, 1871, The Descent of Man

Now there is a strong convention

But citation is often shallow and narrow

Now there is a strong convention

But citation is often shallow and narrow

And sometimes just plain wrong!!!!!!

Choosing the right citation

Give proper credit for ideas to the person that had them

If sex is going to increase the rate of adaptation then the supply of beneficial mutations must be abundant (Colegrave 2002)

If sex is going to increase the rate of adaptation then the supply of beneficial mutations must be abundant (Colegrave 2002)

BAD!

Whitlock, M. C., and N. H. Barton. 1997. The effective size of a subdivided population. Genetics 146:427-441.

Cited nearly 200 times

Whitlock, M. C., and N. H. Barton. 1997. The effective size of a subdivided population. Genetics 146:427-441.

Cited nearly 200 times

Most citations are to the concept of Ne

Should cite original papers


Modern review or original source?



Local mate competition theory predicts female biased sex ratios in situations where daughters mate with their brothers, and this has been shown empirically to occur across a wide range of taxa.



Local mate competition theory predicts female biased sex ratios in situations where daughters mate with their brothers (reference to original paper), and this has been shown empirically to occur across a wide range of taxa (for review see reference to recent review).




Try to look beyond your own immediate field



Penna, T. J. P. 1995. A bit-string model for biological aging. Journal of Statistical Physics 78:1629-1633.

•cited by 99 papers



Penna, T. J. P. 1995. A bit-string model for biological aging. Journal of Statistical Physics 78:1629-1633.

•cited by 99 papers; 97/99 in physics journals


Cite other authors honestly and accurately


Original statement: Our model shows that whilst group selection can occur in principle, the requirements for it to operate are so restrictive as to make it extremely unlikely that it has been an important evolutionary force


Original statement: Our model shows that whilst group selection can occur in principle, the requirements for it to operate are so restrictive as to make it extremely unlikely that it has been an important evolutionary force

Statements that might cite this

Theory shows that group selection can occur.

Theory shows that group selection is unlikely to occur.

Butlin, R., and T. Tregenza. 2005. The way the world might be. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 18:1205-1208.

• Analysed 200 citations to Dieckmann, U., and M. Doebeli. 1999. On the origin of species by sympatric speciation. Nature 400:354-357.

Butlin, R., and T. Tregenza. 2005. The way the world might be. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 18:1205-1208.

• Analyse 200 citations to Dieckmann, U., and M. Doebeli. 1999. On the origin of species by sympatric speciation. Nature 400:354-357.

Read the papers that you cite


Make sure that they really say what you think they do

Make sure that you understand the arguments that they make




If you cannot read the original, make this clear in your citation




If you cannot read the original, make this clear in your citation

YOU MIGHT GET ASKED IN YOUR VIVA!!!!!

• Be aware of the wider literature


• Be precise:– cite page #, give quotations….– Summarise the argument


• Be precise:– cite page #, give quotations….– Summarise the argument

• Be scholarly:– Refer to the whole history of the argument

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Citations: what, when, how and why!!. What are citations for?

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