How dangerous conservation ideas can develop through citation errors

Smith, Helen; Banks, Peter B.

doi:10.7882/az.2014.047

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 27 publications

(43 reference statements)

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“…We value such scholarship as shown by Adam and urge others not to shy away from such ecological investigations. Smith and Banks (2017) present a concerning case of Chinese whispers emerging from within the scientific lieterature where they show that incorrect or ambiguous citations can easily lead to ideas being distorted in subsequent publications. Incorrect ideas are dangerous ideas if they become unfairly favoured because of the apparent supporting literature, and lead to misguided research or management action.…”

Section: Australian Zoologist Volume 38 (3)mentioning

confidence: 98%

An introduction to Dangerous ideas in zoology

Banks

Lunney

Predavec

2017

Australian Zoologist

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Dangerous ideas are those that challenge the status quo, ignore political correctness or, if followed, lead to an unsettling series of consequences (Pinker 2006). As practising zoologists, our ongoing concern relates to the long-term survival of our native wildlife across all land tenures and the marine environment, and protecting natural areas in perpetuity. We hoped that a day of dangerous zoological ideas would stimulate fresh thinking and discussion about how to meet the challenges in using science to help conserve wildlife in the 21st century. While we as editors have a view on what comprises a dangerous idea (and a solid zoological idea), we were most reluctant to circumscribe our speakers and their papers. As a consequence, the papers in this volume reveal a remarkable take on what is dangerous, or at least what is considered dangerous and by whom. Some authors pose dangerous new ideas to solve difficult zoological challenges, others highlighted dangers in the misinterpretation of science and make a call for change, while others revealed hidden dangers in zoological ideas that are popular with the public but are yet to be fully thought through. Collectively the papers in this volume reveal that within the discipline of zoology, the battleground of ideas is awash with tough contests. Here though, our focus is on understanding and conserving our native fauna and, to that end, the Royal Zoological Society of NSW is keen to be dangerous in a world locked more into economic growth than an appreciation of our natural heritage and how to conserve it.

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Section: Australian Zoologist Volume 38 (3)mentioning

confidence: 98%

An introduction to Dangerous ideas in zoology

Banks

Lunney

Predavec

2017

Australian Zoologist

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“…For several decades, the quote "let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food," which was fabricated by medical researchers and erroneously attributed to Hippocrates of Cos, a Greek physician who is generally considered the father of Western medicine, has been propagated through plagiarized citations and mistakenly helped scientists conflate food with medicine (Cardenas, 2013). The distortion of scientific evidence through plagiarized citations may also incorrectly influence public policy, overlook a government action that is needed and trigger an unnecessary intervention (Smith and Banks, 2017).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do they practice what they preach? The presence of problematic citations in business ethics research

Serenko

Dumay

Hsiao

et al. 2021

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PurposeIn scholarly publications, citations play an essential epistemic role in creating and disseminating knowledge. Conversely, the use of problematic citations impedes the growth of knowledge, contaminates the knowledge base and disserves science. This study investigates the presence of problematic citations in the works of business ethics scholars.Design/methodology/approachThe authors investigated two types of problematic citations: inaccurate citations and plagiarized citations. For this, 1,200 randomly selected citations from three leading business ethics journals were assessed based on: (1) referenced journal errors, (2) article title errors and (3) author name errors. Other papers that replicated the same title errors were identified.FindingsOf the citations in the examined business ethics journals, 21.42% have at least one error. Of particular concern are the citation errors in article titles, where 3.75% of examined citations have minor errors and another 3.75% display major errors – 7.5% in total. Two-thirds of minor and major title errors were repeatedly replicated in previous and ensuing publications, which confirms the presence of citation plagiarism. An average article published in a business ethics journal contains at least three plagiarized citations. Even though business ethics fares well compared to other disciplines, a situation where every fifth citation is problematic is unacceptable.Practical implicationsBusiness ethics scholars are not immune to the use of problematic citations, and it is unlikely that attempting to improve researchers' awareness of the unethicality of this behavior will bring a desirable outcome.Originality/valueIdentifying that problematic citations exist in the business ethics literature is novel because it is expected that these researchers would not condone this practice.

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“…As a result, the scientific ideas become distorted to such a degree that incorrect conclusions are drawn and harmful recommendations are proposed. Plagiarized citations have also led to the propagation of distorted evidence in biology leading to ineffective or even damaging intervention policies (Smith and Banks, 2017; Sanz-Martín et al , 2016). This does not bode well with the cumulative growth of valid scientific knowledge.…”

Section: A Typology Of Citation Patterns For the Growth Of Knowledgementioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of citations for the growth of knowledge: a Foucauldian perspective

Rushton

Serenko

2019

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to sensitize researchers to qualitative citation patterns that characterize original research, contribute toward the growth of knowledge and, ultimately, promote scientific progress. Design/methodology/approach This study describes how ideas are intertextually inserted into citing works to create new concepts and theories, thereby contributing to the growth of knowledge. By combining existing perspectives and dimensions of citations with Foucauldian theory, this study develops a typology of qualitative citation patterns for the growth of knowledge and uses examples from two classic works to illustrate how these citation patterns can be identified and applied. Findings A clearer understanding of the motivations behind citations becomes possible by focusing on the qualitative patterns of citations rather than on their quantitative features. The proposed typology includes the following patterns: original, conceptual, organic, juxtapositional, peripheral, persuasive, acknowledgment, perfunctory, inconsistent and plagiaristic. Originality/value In contrast to quantitative evaluations of the role and value of citations, this study focuses on the qualitative characteristics of citations, in the form of specific patterns of citations that engender original and novel research and those that may not. By integrating Foucauldian analysis of discourse with existing theories of citations, this study offers a more nuanced and refined typology of citations that can be used by researchers to gain a deeper semantic understanding of citations.

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How dangerous conservation ideas can develop through citation errors

Cited by 8 publications

References 27 publications

An introduction to Dangerous ideas in zoology

An introduction to Dangerous ideas in zoology

Do they practice what they preach? The presence of problematic citations in business ethics research

Patterns of citations for the growth of knowledge: a Foucauldian perspective

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