Policy on Citation Manipulation

The journal is committed to upholding the integrity of the scholarly record and to ensuring that citation practices are based solely on scholarly relevance. In line with the principles promoted by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the guidance of the Council of Science Editors (CSE), the journal does not tolerate citation manipulation.

Citation manipulation includes any attempt by authors, reviewers, editors, or others involved in the editorial process to influence citation patterns primarily to increase citation-based metrics, rather than to improve the scientific quality or completeness of a manuscript.

Examples of potentially inappropriate citation practices include, but are not limited to:

  • Editors or reviewers pressuring authors to add citations to a particular journal, publisher, or individual without clear scholarly justification.

  • Reviewers requesting citation of their own work where such citations are not directly relevant.

  • Disproportionate self-citation by authors or journals that cannot be justified by the subject matter.

  • Citation cartels or reciprocal citation arrangements intended to artificially inflate citation counts.

  • Editorial content that unreasonably favors citations to the journal’s own publications.

Requests to add citations during peer review must be transparent, relevant, and scientifically justified. Authors should not feel obliged to include suggested citations if they do not materially contribute to the manuscript.

All participants in the editorial process share responsibility for ethical citation practices. Concerns about possible citation manipulation should be raised with the Editor-in-Chief or the journal’s Committee on Publication Ethics.

The journal reserves the right to investigate suspected cases of citation manipulation and to take appropriate action in accordance with its editorial policies and publishing ethics standards, with reference to guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Council of Science Editors (CSE).

This policy is informed by the Council of Science Editors’ guidance on citation manipulation and reflects COPE’s principles of publication ethics.

References
Council of Science Editors (CSE) - White Paper on Publication Ethics: Citation Manipulation.

COPE - Citation Manipulation, Reviewer Citation Manipulation, Handling Citation Manipulation