In - text citation function s of self ­ - citations: Implications for research evaluation practice

Abstract

Self-citations have long been noted as a problem in citation analysis and are often excluded from the analyses based on the notion that self-citations may be included for egoistic or self-serving reasons. The present study, however, found that self-citations are less likely to function as nonessential citations than foreign citations, suggesting that self-citations should not be discounted in citation analysis, and should in fact be given more weight than foreign citations in weighted citation analysis. This study fills a gap in research on self-citations by examining the function of individual self-citation occurrences inciting articles as compared to foreign citations.