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Why citations are important in your research work?

The answer for this question is the fact that we are living in an information economy, in every research work of yours, your ability to allow readers quick access information is more important than the knowledge you present. Providing readers the ability to obtain the information is often more appreciated than the method through which it is obtained.

A citation is a way of giving credit to individuals for their creative and intellectual works that you utilized to support your research. It can also be used to locate particular source which helps in plummeting plagiarism. Citing or documenting the sources used in your research serves purposes such as

i) it allows you to gives due credit to the authors of the work or ideas which you incorporated into your paper

ii) it allows those who are reading your work to locate your sources

iii) in order to trace from where you got your ideas that you included in your paper.

It is ethical to cite your sources

Even if no one reads your article/paper/book but clicks the link they regard your honesty for showing appreciation and giving credit to the hard work of those who helped you out. Make it a practice to religiously cite your sources. You might feel that proper acknowledgement of sources might make you look dumb, yet, there are instances in Universities where PhD thesis have been turned down for the lack of inadequate and genuine citations. Please don’t be under wrong impression that your work goes unchecked by referees.

Non-citing the sources in your literature goes out to portray your academic dishonesty, and the potential snags of plagiarism. While accuracy is all important in any writing, the very act of looking up a reference for verification serves as an accuracy check. 

Citation makes you a better researcher

Some of the hallmarks of good research include attention to detail and the ability to distinguish outlines and make coherent connections with your own thought process. Honest citation practice portrays your reading habits. It shows your patience in reading variety of literature available on a topic while it also necessitates you to add many details, such as correct page numbers, the spelling of author names, and of course, the accuracy of facts that you are presenting in your own article or your thesis. This habit helps you becoming a detail-oriented researcher. As for the ability to spot trends and patterns, preparing a good bibliography trains you for this task which is crucial in scientific analysis.

Citation practice make you a good writer

We all researchers aspire to write elegant papers in which the style is as persuasive as the content and good acknowledgment habits build a strong foundation towards that goal. Citing specific sources for the various facts that we present removes the intellectual laziness, ambiguous thinking, and of course slack writing. A good writer will always write matter which can be substituted with specific sources. And, when you cite sources appropriately, you leave no question in your readers’ minds regarding your point. Furthermore, by citing, you can easily use precise language.

It is important to note that in the Academic Ranking of World Universities also known as Shanghai Ranking the parameter of citations a university has acquired attracts 30% of overall score. It looks at the role of universities in dispersing new knowledge and ideas.

It examines research weight by capturing the number of times a university’s published work is cited by scholars globally. In 2014, Thomson Reuters examined more than 50 million citations to 6 million journal articles, published over five years. The data are drawn from the 12,000 academic journals indexed by Thomson Reuters’ Web of Science database and include all indexed journals published between 2007 and 2011. The citations help to show how much each university is contributing to the sum of human knowledge. It shows whose research has stood out, has been picked up and built on by other scholars and, most importantly, it has been shared around the global scholarly community to push further the boundaries of our collective understanding, irrespective of discipline.

Well-presented bibliography shows your scientific knowledge

A bibliography is the compilation of the various sources that you have read and cited in your own manuscript, dissertation, book, etc. Thus, an extensive bibliography is naturally a sign of extensively read and well-informed researcher. It shows your deeper insights on the topic. It also improves your credibility as a writer.

Citation enables better substantiation of your work

Any piece of academic writing gets examined several times over before it finally makes it into print or onto a website. Whether one is a peer reviewer, editor, or editorial assistant whose job is simply to track down sources in the bibliography and make sure that the citations are exact. This helps your paper easily to be passed through the multiple rounds of editing with negligible criticism. 

I conclude my article with point on bibliography that it is the key element of a research/thesis which is used to judge the quality of the work done by the researcher.  Therefore, use up-to-date citations and cite your references scientifically. Please do not ignore the quality of bibliography. It exhibits your critical thinking, it proves you have read and understood your sources, it establishes your work as a valid source and you as a competent researcher, and it situates your study and topic in a continuing professional conversation. And finally, your bibliography might stimulate other researchers to carry on further work on your chosen topic of research.

The research in academics is built on a foundation of trust. On a similar topic simultaneously many researchers work across the globe; they trust that the results reported by others are true and sound. Research ethics involves the application of fundamental ethical principles to a variety of topics linking research which includes verity of educational streams. Society trusts that the results of research reflect an honest attempt by scientists and other researchers to describe the world accurately and without bias. But this trust will continue only if the scholarly community devotes itself to typify and transmit the values associated with ethical research conduct.

Research malpractices include the design and implementation of research involving redundant human experimentation, animal experimentation, various aspects of academic scandal, including scientific misconduct such as fraud, fabricated data, plagiarism, pseudo conclusions and observations, unruliness of research, etc. Research ethics is most developed as a concept in medical research because it involves animal experimentation. While animal rights activists protest the use of animals in scientific experimentation, proponents of animal experimentation argue the logical warrant for the practice. Show proper respect and care for animals when using them in research. Do not conduct unnecessary or poorly designed animal experiments. About 20 million animals are experimented on and killed annually, three-fourths for medical purposes and the rest to test various products. An estimated eight million are used in painful experiments. Reports show that at least 10 percent of these animals do not receive painkillers. Animal rights advocates are pressing government agencies to impose heavy restrictions on animal research. But this growing criticism of painful experimentation on animals is matched by a growing concern over the threat restrictions on the use of animals would pose to scientific progress. Whether such experiments should be allowed to continue has become a matter for public debate.

Remember, your research should contribute to the betterment of society. It is your responsibility to secure the actual permission and interests of all those involved in the study. You cannot misuse any of the information discovered, as a researcher, you have moral responsibility towards the participants. There is a duty to protect the rights of people in the study as well as their privacy and sensitivity. The confidentiality of those involved in the observation must be maintained all through, keeping their anonymity and privacy secure. If you your taking help of some whistle blowers, respect their contribution while protecting their welfare.

There are several reasons why it is important to adhere to ethical norms in research. First and foremost, you should comply with the aims and objectives of your research, such as knowledge, truth, and avoidance of error. For example, if your topic is ‘whether entrepreneurs are made or born’ your objectives have to fall in the framework of finding whether they are born or they can be motivated and made entrepreneurs. Remember, you are prohibited against fabricating, falsifying, or misrepresenting research data. Your outcomes are supposed to promote the truth only. Second, since research often involves a great deal of cooperation and coordination among many different people in different disciplines and institutions, ethical standards are appreciated in collaborative work, such as trust, accountability, mutual respect, and fairness. For example, many ethical norms in research, such as guidelines for authorship, copyright and patenting policies, data sharing policies, and confidentiality rules in peer review, are designed to protect intellectual property interests while encouraging collaboration.

I am sure, no researcher will like his/her credit for the genius work done, to be stolen by others. Also, please don’t forget a fact that your research work is answerable to the public at large. In India of late all PhD thesis are uploaded on UGC website; I believe many PhD holder’s work was questioned for various reasons for instance some copied research work from other’s thesis was withdrawn and the PhD awards also discarded. We cannot escape centralized policies on research conduct any longer. As citizens of this great nation, we should not publish poor standard work anymore.

Given the importance of ethics for the conduct of research, it should come as no surprise that many different professional associations, government agencies, and universities have adopted specific codes, rules, and policies relating to research ethics. Many government agencies, such as the Indian Institute of Science (IIS), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), the National Environment Protection Authority (NEPA), UGC and the Department of Agriculture have ethical rules and regulations drafted for funding researchers, which cannot be overruled.

If you want to get pleasure from your journey of becoming a researcher with authenticity and consistency please follow few values and your will be successful forever.

Honesty: Strive for honesty in all your communications. Honestly collect, assess and report data and results. Don’t go for shortcuts, Follow methods and procedures, and publication grades. Do not fabricate, falsify, or misrepresent data. Do not deceive colleagues, granting agencies, or the public at large.

Have clear objectives of your research:  Avoid bias as far as possible in experimental design, data analysis, data interpretation, peer review, personnel decisions, collecting grants if any,  expert testimony, and other aspects of research where objectivity is expected or required. Self-deception is worst. Disclose personal or financial interests that may affect research.

Alertness: Avoid careless errors and negligence; always carefully and critically examine your own work and the work of your peers. Keep good records of research activities, such as data collection, research design, correspondence with agencies or journals, have neat and clean bibliography prepared simultaneously. Keep your promises and agreements, be sincere and strive for consistency of thought and action.

Sincerity: Share data, results, ideas, tools, resources. Be open to criticism and new ideas. Protect confidential communications, such as papers or grants submitted for publication, personnel records, trade or secrets.

Respect Intellectual Property of others: Honor patents, copyrights, and other forms of intellectual property. Do not use unpublished data, methods, or results without permission. Give credit where credit is due. Give proper acknowledgement or credit for all contributions to research. Avoid plagiarism. Respect each one’s contribution to your work. Respect respondents of your research work. Treat your assistants such as data entry operator, printer, binder, and your colleagues fairly.

Your publication is accountable: Publish in order to advance research and scholarship, not to advance just your own career. Avoid wasteful and duplicative publication. Strive to promote social good and prevent social harms through research of any kind.

Expertise: Maintain and improve your own professional competence and expertise through lifelong education and learning; even after getting your doctoral or postdoctoral degree update yourself – do not end your learning. Take steps to promote competence in your area of work.

Legality: Know and obey relevant laws and institutional and governmental policies. Don’t cut short any rule or regulation, you might come into some trouble if you do so – if not now in future.

Handle your topic with dedication: When conducting research on human subjects minimize harms and risks and maximize benefits; respect human dignity, privacy, and autonomy. Take special precautions with vulnerable populations; and strive to distribute the results of your research fairly.