According to Zotero Style Repository, one may choose from 10,377 different citation style languages (Zotero Style Repository, 2023). Although only a limited number of citation styles are widely used, especially in individual disciplines, authors may encounter a further expansion of the number of styles because some journals create their own or modified styles. Such a quantity represents a significant barrier for authors. They are not specialists in citation styles to create flawless entries in different citation styles themselves (many have trouble creating perfect references even in one style). Creating the references flawlessly (preferably in a citation style supported by databases and services such as Crossref) is essential to meet the requirements for publication and raise their usability and citation impact. Therefore, authors can use citation managers, so they do not have to manually rewrite references according to the templates, which, moreover, are not offered by every journal. In practice, that creates a set of challenges for authors: (1) to identify the correct citation style for the journal, (2) to try to find the style in their citation management system, (3) to create the references in the system or manually. It follows that a critical factor for referencing is which citation style the journal defines and how it facilitates the named challenges for authors by choosing a widely-used citation style that it describes appropriately.
The research aims to describe how scholarly journals define the required citation styles. We will analyze a sample of journals available in the Scopus database, thereby including only high-quality journals that meet the criteria for inclusion in this database (Content Policy and Selection, 2021). However, Scopus does not impose any requirements on citation styles. Therefore, they depend only on the journal’s policies. We will create the research dataset manually in early 2023. The sample size will be approximately 400 journals. Our task is to identify how widespread individual citation styles are; to which extent journals use the various procedures for defining citation style requirements (e.g., naming, citing examples, referencing the interpretation); and whether there are any errors in the requirements description. Scopus includes both open and closed-access journals, journals in different languages, from different countries, and various scientific fields. In the second part of our analysis, we will compare the journals according to their discipline (scientific domain), openness, and rank in Scopus. We also want to compare the country specifics of Lithuania and the Czech Republic, which are small countries with local languages, and a general international group (the three groups will be of comparable size). The potential influence of these factors will be discussed. Information literacy practitioners and educators can consider the research results in academic writing courses, guidance offered to academics and doctoral students, and in supporting scholarly journals in setting the publishing rules to amplify the impact of articles.
References
- Elsevier. (2021). Content policy and selection. Retrieved January 4, 2023 from https://www.elsevier.com/solutions/scopus/how-scopus-works/content/content-policy-and-selection
- Zotero. (2023). Zotero style repository. Retrieved January 4, 2023 from https://www.zotero.org/styles
Pavla Vizváry1, Vincas Grigas2
1Masaryk University, Czech Republic; 2Vilnius University, Lithuania