Self-Citation, Cumulative Advantage, and Gender Inequality in Science
In science, self-citation is often interpreted as an act of self-promotion that (artificially) boosts the visibility of one’s prior work in the short term, which could then inflate professional authority in the long term. Recently, in light of research on the gender gap in self-promotion, two large-...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Society for Sociological Science
2020-05-01
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| Series: | Sociological Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.sociologicalscience.com/articles-v7-7-152/ |
| _version_ | 1818310260152074240 |
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| author | Pierre Azoulay Freda B. Lynn |
| author_facet | Pierre Azoulay Freda B. Lynn |
| author_sort | Pierre Azoulay |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In science, self-citation is often interpreted as an act of self-promotion that (artificially) boosts the visibility of one’s prior work in the short term, which could then inflate professional authority in the long term. Recently, in light of research on the gender gap in self-promotion, two large-scale studies of publications examine if women self-cite less than men. But they arrive at conflicting conclusions; one concludes yes whereas the other, no. We join the debate with an original study of 36 cohorts of life scientists (1970–2005) followed through 2015 (or death or retirement). We track not only the rate of self-citation per unit of past productivity but also the likelihood of self-citing intellectually distant material and the rate of return on self-citations with respect to a host of major career outcomes, including grants, future citations, and job changes. With comprehensive, longitudinal data, we find no evidence whatsoever of a gender gap in self-citation practices or returns. Men may very well be more aggressive self-promoters than women, but this dynamic does not manifest in our sample with respect to self-citation practices. Implications of our null findings are discussed, particularly with respect to gender inequality in scientific careers more broadly. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T07:43:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8a54bb150ac34c0c8cb2278778d5fe65 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2330-6696 2330-6696 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T07:43:14Z |
| publishDate | 2020-05-01 |
| publisher | Society for Sociological Science |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sociological Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-8a54bb150ac34c0c8cb2278778d5fe652022-12-21T23:54:55ZengSociety for Sociological ScienceSociological Science2330-66962330-66962020-05-017715218610.15195/v7.a7Self-Citation, Cumulative Advantage, and Gender Inequality in SciencePierre Azoulay0Freda B. Lynn1Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyUniversity of IowaIn science, self-citation is often interpreted as an act of self-promotion that (artificially) boosts the visibility of one’s prior work in the short term, which could then inflate professional authority in the long term. Recently, in light of research on the gender gap in self-promotion, two large-scale studies of publications examine if women self-cite less than men. But they arrive at conflicting conclusions; one concludes yes whereas the other, no. We join the debate with an original study of 36 cohorts of life scientists (1970–2005) followed through 2015 (or death or retirement). We track not only the rate of self-citation per unit of past productivity but also the likelihood of self-citing intellectually distant material and the rate of return on self-citations with respect to a host of major career outcomes, including grants, future citations, and job changes. With comprehensive, longitudinal data, we find no evidence whatsoever of a gender gap in self-citation practices or returns. Men may very well be more aggressive self-promoters than women, but this dynamic does not manifest in our sample with respect to self-citation practices. Implications of our null findings are discussed, particularly with respect to gender inequality in scientific careers more broadly.https://www.sociologicalscience.com/articles-v7-7-152/self-citationcumulative advantagescience careersgender inequalityself-promotion |
| spellingShingle | Pierre Azoulay Freda B. Lynn Self-Citation, Cumulative Advantage, and Gender Inequality in Science Sociological Science self-citation cumulative advantage science careers gender inequality self-promotion |
| title | Self-Citation, Cumulative Advantage, and Gender Inequality in Science |
| title_full | Self-Citation, Cumulative Advantage, and Gender Inequality in Science |
| title_fullStr | Self-Citation, Cumulative Advantage, and Gender Inequality in Science |
| title_full_unstemmed | Self-Citation, Cumulative Advantage, and Gender Inequality in Science |
| title_short | Self-Citation, Cumulative Advantage, and Gender Inequality in Science |
| title_sort | self citation cumulative advantage and gender inequality in science |
| topic | self-citation cumulative advantage science careers gender inequality self-promotion |
| url | https://www.sociologicalscience.com/articles-v7-7-152/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT pierreazoulay selfcitationcumulativeadvantageandgenderinequalityinscience AT fredablynn selfcitationcumulativeadvantageandgenderinequalityinscience |