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Literary runaway: Increasingly more references cited per academic research article from 1980 to 2019
Can Dai1,2, Quan Chen1, Tao Wan3
1School of Resources and Environmental Science, Hubei University, Wuhan, China.
Plos One
|August 6, 2021
Summary
Academic research shows a significant increase in the number of references cited per paper across disciplines from 1980-2019. This trend, termed reference density growth, shows no signs of slowing down.
Area of Science:
- Bibliometrics
- Scholarly Communication
- Academic Publishing
Background:
- References are crucial for academic integrity and demonstrating scholarly depth.
- Recent decades have seen a substantial rise in academic publications globally.
- Understanding citation trends is vital for evaluating research impact and practices.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the temporal trends in reference density across various academic disciplines.
- To investigate the growth patterns of citations per research article over a defined period.
- To assess whether reference saturation has been reached in academic literature.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of publication data indexed in Web of Science.
- Quantitative study of reference counts in research articles.
- Longitudinal study spanning from 1980 to 2019.
- Disciplinary categorization of research papers into eight groups.
Main Results:
- Significant linear growth in reference density observed in eight disciplinary categories.
- The trend indicates continued expansion of citations per article, with no saturation point identified.
- Factors such as increased publication volume and digital accessibility likely contribute to this growth.
Conclusions:
- Reference density in academic research has shown a consistent upward trend across multiple disciplines.
- The increasing number of citations per paper suggests evolving scholarly practices and information accessibility.
- Authors should prioritize research integrity over citation quantity, focusing on relevant and impactful references.
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