All Questions
2,551 questions
44
votes
5
answers
8k
views
As a referee, is it okay to ask for references to be removed?
Say I received a paper for review. Afterwards I discover that there are cited references that are not related to the discussed subject, or there are elements in the bibliography that are not ...
- 1,322
43
votes
6
answers
10k
views
Is it appropriate to cite a paper in a language I don't understand?
Some months back I got into a situation where a paper with information that I considered important to prove a point was in a language I cannot understand. Since it was important but not crucial, I ...
- 463
42
votes
6
answers
13k
views
At how many citations should I make my Google Scholar profile public?
I have recently got another citation, which brought my citation count to three. Even though I am proud of my three citations, others may find it funny or pitiful. So I am having doubts whether I ...
- 6,577
42
votes
8
answers
3k
views
Literature searches in publications when you have limited access to journals
I'm currently at an institution that has a phenomenal library system. I think every journal article or book I've ever needed, no matter how old or obscure, was available to me. I consider myself ...
- 1,613
42
votes
2
answers
7k
views
Why do journals have limits on the number of references?
I was rather shocked when hearing in a conversation that journals sometimes have explicit limits on the number of references that can be included in one article. I understand that there are space ...
- 11.2k
41
votes
6
answers
9k
views
How do I use lemmas that are probably already proven, but including the proof myself is quicker than looking up a source?
Suppose I have proven several lemmas during my work that are neither original nor significant (these results were needed for applied engineering/CS research, not mathematics). I believe that if I ...
40
votes
6
answers
10k
views
How can I express "I can't find any papers written about this"?
I'm an undergraduate writing a paper for a philosophy course in logic. My paper is exploring a relationship between Leibniz' logic and graph theory. In writing the paper, I've found some material in ...
- 593
40
votes
8
answers
5k
views
Is it ethical for authors to reference another paper, but not cite it formally, because they consider it unscientific?
I found in a medical paper from the 1990's a non-citation like this:
The results and terminology by John Smith, Jane Poe, John Doe, Richard Roe, Larry Loe, Journal of Scientific Papers, 12345-698 (...
- 21.5k
40
votes
5
answers
33k
views
How to cite oneself as co-author without all names, for resume or presentation?
My questions regards the format of citation.
For the context: I am a student, presenting my work (with slides) and referring to the publications in which I am co-author (never in the first three ...
- 361
40
votes
11
answers
12k
views
Tool to manage and/or make available a list of my publications on the web?
This some kind of follow up question to How to prevent plagiarism of my papers?, since I've been clearly convinced that it was in my best interest to put my own papers on my webpage.
Now, since I ...
user102
40
votes
6
answers
36k
views
Should I add references to conference presentations?
I am preparing a CS conference presentation and wondering how can I handle the references. I am thinking about three different possibilities:
Ignore them!
Just list them at the end of the ...
- 13.9k
40
votes
3
answers
7k
views
Asked to cite papers for money
I was recently contacted by someone claiming to run a "decentralized collaborative team" who cite each other's papers and offering me money for citing their papers ($10 per citation, paid ...
- 501
39
votes
4
answers
11k
views
How to deal with an unreasonable reviewer asking to cite irrelevant articles?
Two years ago, when I was doing my master’s degree, I was working on a computational project. My supervisor was well-known in the field and a highly reputed person. We were doing a great job, trying ...
- 1,405
39
votes
3
answers
3k
views
How to review a paper that relies heavily on references to unpublished work?
I am currently doing a (blind) review of a paper for a Journal in the engineering field. The manuscript seems okay so far but relies to a large extent on a unpublished paper, cited as Miller et al. ...
- 1,155
38
votes
6
answers
5k
views
Is it ethical to obtain journal articles from places other than the publisher's official sites?
When I am at home and looking for journal articles I often find article PDFs through google that have been uploaded to various websites (e.g., universities, institutions, arbitrary websites, etc...). ...
- 713
37
votes
7
answers
11k
views
Why is it acceptable to cite unpublished works?
If an article, theorem, etc. is unpublished, presumably the work is only available to people who track down the author and get a draft copy. Today we have arXiv and can find many preprints on the ...
- 515
37
votes
4
answers
12k
views
Should I let my professor know that I cited a text written by him....that I pirated from online
I wrote an essay for a professor of mine, in which I cited a book he had written. As it so happens, the citation is based on my having obtained a (most likely) pirated PDF copy of the book. The text ...
- 11.6k
37
votes
4
answers
4k
views
Citing different papers which use different notation for the same concept,
Not sure if this is the place to ask about this. But for lack of knowledge of a better resource, I turn here.
When citing papers which use the different notation for the same model, is it better to ...
- 481
37
votes
3
answers
6k
views
I changed a word from a source, how do I cite it correctly?
I'm writing an analytical summary on Meditation II of Descartes from the compendium we have been given at school. We have been told to use this as our main source. Nevertheless, there is this specific ...
- 621
37
votes
6
answers
191k
views
How can I cite the same reference in successive sentences?
I've just read a paper that cited the same reference in two successive sentences:
This is the first sentence (xxxx 2013). This is the second sentence
(xxxx 2013).
Up until now, I would have ...
- 1,983
37
votes
6
answers
117k
views
How to cite my own submitted but not yet published work?
I plan to submit part of my current work to conference A. I then wish to submit my whole work to a more prestigious conference B. As for the part submitted to A, there is no point of repeating it ...
- 5,887
37
votes
1
answer
7k
views
Two papers from different authors with identical content – which to reference?
I am currently undertaking a project as a part of a grad course I am taking. While making some research on the use of medical parallel manipulators, I found two research papers written by different ...
- 677
37
votes
3
answers
60k
views
How should 'van'-names be ordered in a bibliography?
How would names with 'van', written in the Dutch style - e.g. van Beukering, J., be ordered in a bibliography?
Do we count the 'van' element so that e.g. van Beukering, J. would be some point after ...
- 785
37
votes
8
answers
33k
views
Is it plagiarism (or bad practice) to cite reviews instead of source material directly? [duplicate]
My first source of information when preparing a manuscript are reviews. If up-to-date and comprehensive, I feel I can create most of my introduction by rephrasing and citing them. Nevertheless, ...
- 892
36
votes
5
answers
12k
views
Are 'please cite my paper' emails socially accepted?
I am a PhD student in physics. A few months ago, I submitted a paper (which has meanwhile been accepted, but not yet published). The preprint is on arXiv.
Now, I saw that a few days ago, another ...
- 779
36
votes
5
answers
4k
views
What are the downsides of using arXiv references instead of conference/journal references for the same paper?
I read in the instructions for one conference:
Please do not use arXiv references for papers that have been published at official venues such as conferences, journals or workshops. Please make the ...
- 34.1k
36
votes
3
answers
9k
views
After publishing many articles in the last few years, why does my work have few citations?
During last 3 years I have published 17 articles, but I have only 15 citations (excluding self citation), which I find disappointing.
My articles have 100s of downloads almost every month. They seem ...
- 5,141
35
votes
5
answers
7k
views
What to do when a result is essentially proven but not stated in an existing publication?
I am writing a paper in mathematics that uses some technical results from a classic paper in the field, but not exactly in the way these results were stated at the time. Basically, I found that ...
- 483
35
votes
5
answers
104k
views
Is there a difference between "forthcoming" and "in press"?
Once a paper of mine has definitively been accepted for publication, I typically list it on my CV and in citations as "forthcoming". Other people seem to use "in press" for the same category, and an ...
- 1,106
35
votes
7
answers
16k
views
Do I have to cite common CS algorithms?
I'm working on my final thesis for a CS grade course and I want to use a common sorting algorithm (quicksort for the curious ones). Do I need to include a reference to this algorithm (cite or quote)? ...
- 453
35
votes
6
answers
42k
views
How to list a paper in your CV when having 1000 co-authors?
This is a follow up to the question What is the point of listing 1000 authors for a single scientific paper?, I'm just curious.
Supposed I were the 900th co-author in a paper with 1000 authors. How ...
- 17.7k
35
votes
5
answers
12k
views
Multiple accounts of plagiarism (?) during literature study: are my standards too high or should I take action?
I'm currently doing my literature review in preparation for my graduation (masters degree) thesis work at a Dutch university. The past semester I worked as a student assistent on a first-year project, ...
- 479
35
votes
5
answers
6k
views
Can open-source software be peer-reviewed and published?
My colleague and I have developed a software tool and intend to release it open-source.
This tool is specifically for tasks in my field but we think it would be helpful for the wider community. Our ...
- 2,306
35
votes
6
answers
4k
views
Does Impact Factor reflect the quality of a journal?
Is the impact factor really useful for judging the quality of a journal article?
- 4,669
34
votes
7
answers
8k
views
Is it accepted to refer to your own published result by your own name?
Assume that Jane Doe has published a paper in 2010 where she has developed a model or a theorem or a similar result, let’s say, that it relates to growth.
Now assume that Jane Doe is writing another ...
- 2,349
34
votes
5
answers
6k
views
Should I cite a really bad research paper published in my small research area?
I am working on a special topic in applied math. We are trying to explore a new and largely unexplored area in our line of research. Our hope is to be the first researchers to have solid results in ...
- 11.6k
34
votes
3
answers
6k
views
Citing two authors with the same surname – is it worth noting that they are distinct people?
In the paper I am currently writing I cite works by Bill Smith and Fred Smith.
I refer to them both several times, as several of Bill Smith’s papers provide the basis for some of the techniques I am ...
- 8,746
34
votes
5
answers
27k
views
When to refer to a paper as "seminal"
I am writing a paper that relies heavily upon some important work done some 10 years ago. The paper was well received gathering well over a 100 citations and is a must mention within my niche field. ...
- 2,333
34
votes
7
answers
8k
views
Writing theory section of thesis - feels like I am just copying
I am doing a PhD in physics / applied math and have just started writing the theory section. A large-ish part (5-10 pages, estimated) will be setting the scene with some theoretical tools that I am ...
- 443
34
votes
2
answers
1k
views
How to cite marginalia in a second-hand book?
So this is an interesting thing I've come across. I recently purchased a modern book for my research and whoever had the book before me had some pretty great things written in the margins.
As a ...
- 5,306
32
votes
6
answers
5k
views
Should I cite the paper from which I got the research question in my own paper?
While reading the paper of some authors. I have decided to work on a question which they listed as an open question in the conclusion section. I'm hesitating on whether or not to cite the paper, from ...
- 2,388
32
votes
10
answers
10k
views
If your field is so isolated that nobody cites your work, does that make you irrelevant?
A group of researchers work in a problem that no one else works on, hence these researchers are cited only by themselves. They cite other papers, too.
How does the academia consider these cases?
...
- 783
32
votes
4
answers
8k
views
Citation of a website: How to determine the year?
If there is a web article (or even a website) without a date of publication, is there a chance to determine a year of publication for a complete reference of it? Or should it omitted in the reference?
- 462
32
votes
2
answers
16k
views
How to display your own name in publications list when you are a middle-author on a publication with a large number of authors?
My Name is among tens of authors of a paper on global health.
For the purpose of my CV update, I need to show my name without showing the names of all authors of the paper.
My preferred style ...
- 321
32
votes
2
answers
5k
views
How to handle a common misconception when writing a Master's thesis?
I'm writing my Master's thesis in a field where there exists a common misconception regarding the properties of a material, stemming from some papers published in the 80's and 90's and disproved in a ...
- 421
32
votes
2
answers
6k
views
Why is the city of publication important in most bibliography format?
Most bibliography formats require the city of publication for books. Why? In this digital era, ISBN would be way more important. But even before the digitalization of everything, why was the city of ...
- 1,124
31
votes
3
answers
10k
views
Is it ethical to cite a paper without fully understanding the math/methods, if the math is not relevant to why I am citing it?
I'm writing an article for a university assignment, and I am essentially looking for sources to support fairly surface level points. Two of the points I am searching for is evidence of diffusion ...
- 765
31
votes
6
answers
3k
views
How much background material should a mathematical research paper include?
I've just written my first mathematical research paper. It proves some new results, which while not ground-breaking are (according to an expert in the field) at least somewhat interesting and ...
- 1,023
31
votes
4
answers
77k
views
What year to use when citing second editions of books
This seems like a silly question, but I can't find a clear answer online. If Dr. Brainiac's Big Book of Science was first published in 1974, but I have the second edition, published in 1996, should I ...
- 3,645
31
votes
3
answers
4k
views
How important are citations when applying for jobs or promotions?
How important is citation count for fresh doctorates? Is this number more important for joining the academia than the industry?
What is the importance of citations for someone seeking tenure? Does ...
- 23.2k