“Can We Get There from Here?” Negotiating the Washouts, Cave-Ins, Dead Ends, and Other Hazards on the Road to Research on Africa

Walsh, Gianfranco

doi:10.1300/j120v42n87_02

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Awareness on the confusions, arising from the unique patronymic naming convention, in citing Ethiopian authors and its potential effects on authors among members of the scienti c and librarian communities have been raised by some authors [16,18,19]. This problem is particularly considered as a serious issue with indexing and cataloguing in libraries and online archives, and consequently issues of information access and receiving due credit [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence and Consequences of Anomalous Citation Styles in Ethiopian Academic Journals

Asefa,

Debella

2024

Preprint

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Background Study investigating the prevalence of citation inaccuracies occurring due to intentional misuse or failed quality control has been growing, but citation inaccuracies driven by inappropriate journal policies have not been specifically addressed. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of journals’ policies requesting inconsistent citation formats between Ethiopian authors and non-Ethiopian authors for in-text citations and reference listings, and to evaluate consequences of inconsistent citation policy on publication practices and parties involved in publication. Methods We collected data on citation formats (author’s first, last, or full name) requested by 60 journals’ policies for citing Ethiopian authors and non-Ethiopian authors in the in-text and reference listing, and the number of references cited using each citation format type in 225 published articles published in 50 journals. We also conducted a survey of 18 Ethiopian scholars engaged in publication processes of Ethiopian journals to assess their experiences about the consequences of using inconsistent citation styles. We calculated frequencies and percentages to summarize data. We applied chi-square test and risk ratios, where appropriate, to examine the statistical significance of the prevalence of inconsistency between comparison groups and its effects on compliance with policy. We used thematic content analysis analyze the survey data. Results We found 19(32%) and 18(30%) citation inconsistencies between Ethiopian and non-Ethiopian authors requested by policies for in-text citation and reference listing, respectively. The corresponding inconsistencies in the published articles were 36% and 46%, respectively. In contrast, we did not find any such inconsistency for non-Ethiopian authors. Journals with inconsistent citation policies had 1.5–2.1 times risk of experiencing incompliance with policies for Ethiopian authors in the published articles than journals with consistent citation policies. Survey participants indicated that inconsistent citation formats requested and used for Ethipian authors can lead to loss of credit to cited authors and breaching scientific ethics. Conclusions Our study reveals a concerning inconsistency in citation styles within Ethiopian journals, sometimes deviating from established international standards. This is, to our knowledge, the first study on policy-driven citation inaccuracies that can inform national and international publishers and editors to review and amend their citation policies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence and Consequences of Anomalous Citation Styles in Ethiopian Academic Journals

Asefa,

Debella

2024

Preprint

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“…Even where reviews are provided, opinions may be bland and uninformed. Gretchen Walsh (Walsh 2004) provides detailed examples of disparity between reviews of the same work in different sources, while Joe Lauer (Lauer 2006) voices the view that 'too many librarians are insufficiently critical when reviewing reference works' partly perhaps because these are often the products of their fellow professionals. Hans Zell in his African studies companion, 4 th ed., (Lochcarron: Hans Zell, 2006) sees the American Library Association's Choice and Standing Conference on Library Materials on Africa (SCOLMA)'s African research and documentation as the two professional journals carrying a fair range of reviews of Africanist reference works that are deemed the most useful and trustworthy by their fellow professionals, and his entries include references to all reviews in these two sources.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Fortunately, this is done lucidly and at length in a recent paper by Gretchen Walsh, long Head of the African Studies Library at Boston University (Walsh 2004) which looks at the whole matter of the reference query: the approaches that researchers take to find their information, and the problems that are raised for them by variously the compilers, the publishers, the reviewers, the cataloguers, indexers and reference librarians, and the Internet. It is witty, wide-ranging, vastly informed, and unsparing of thoughtlessness and carelessness by any of those concerned.…”

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confidence: 99%

The three ages of African studies reference works

McIlwaine

2007

Afr. Bibliogr

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“…There is no space here to explore the whole range of relationships between the reference source and the user. Fortunately, this is done lucidly and at length in a recent paper by Gretchen Walsh, long Head of the African Studies Library at Boston University (Walsh 2004) which looks at the whole matter of the reference query: the approaches that researchers take to find their information, and the problems that are raised for them by variously the compilers, the publishers, the reviewers, the cataloguers, indexers and reference librarians, and the Internet. It is witty, wide-ranging, vastly informed, and unsparing of thoughtlessness and carelessness by any of those concerned.…”

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confidence: 99%

Liberia

2004

Afr. Bibliogr

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The following reflections came to mind during my work in 2005 and 2006 on producing the revised 2 nd edition of my Africa: guide to reference material (Lochcarron: Hans Zell, 2007), hereinafter referred to as my Guide. They also draw upon and recommend for further reading a number of perceptive articles that have been published on Africanist reference works in the last few years. The emphasis, as in my Guide, will be on reference material other than bibliographies. I have already written in these pages about African studies bibliography (McIlwaine 2001) and Peter Limb in last year's volume gave an elegant 'state-of-the art' account of this field (Limb 2006). The introduction to my Guide argues that while bibliographies of Africa are comparatively well covered by existing lists such as

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“Can We Get There from Here?” Negotiating the Washouts, Cave-Ins, Dead Ends, and Other Hazards on the Road to Research on Africa

Cited by 7 publications

References 26 publications

Prevalence and Consequences of Anomalous Citation Styles in Ethiopian Academic Journals

Prevalence and Consequences of Anomalous Citation Styles in Ethiopian Academic Journals

The three ages of African studies reference works

Liberia

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