When you write academic papers, you will likely need to reference a whole host of third-party information and data so that your readers understand how and why you have created your own premise and reached your conclusions. Citations are commonly used to provide both source and supporting material to show the relevancy and accuracy of your work, but there may be times when you need to reference your own learning. This is known as self-citation.
Self-citation at a glance
The chances are that the paper you’re writing isn’t your first and self-citation is a way for you to quote or give credit to your previous works in your current academic article. This form of referencing can help to give your audience a road map of how your thesis has grown and developed as your work has progressed, as simply stating “as I said earlier” or copying text word for word (which can be seen as plagiarism) won’t always be enough.
When to use it
You may not realize it, but self-citation is actually very common in academic papers and can often be seen as short, quoted sections or paraphrases of previously written text. When you publish your work in multiple areas (including physical and digital publications), you won’t want to risk missing important information or displaying your overall expertise in the field if you have plenty of successful personal resources in your portfolio.
Your work should be referenced in the same way as traditional citations, but as different publications will have different rules, be sure you remain compliant and add them as required.
What to be aware of when referencing your own work
Self-citation is a perfectly viable way to reference your earlier work, but there are times when over-referencing can be detrimental. For example, as many publications use citation metrics, it is becoming increasingly common for individuals to use this as a way to enhance the accreditation of their publications. One such metric is the h-index, which is often used to determine an author’s credibility and influence, and this can be inflated using self-citation across several outlets as the more a piece is referenced, the more relevant it is deemed to be.
The academic community is becoming increasingly aware of bad practices with self-citation, so to ensure that your work is deemed credible, only use it when necessary and structure your references to display that your previous work is thematically linked and provides a tangible depiction of relevant data, learning and understanding.
Top tips for self-citation
It can be worthwhile to use the conventions of the genre to ensure that your work meets the expectations of both the publishers and your readers, as well as the wider academic community. Also keep the desired referencing style in mind, as many formal papers will require a formal citation style for quotes, typically in third-person, whereas more causal publications will be happy to accept more conversational-style wording.
Overall you should pay attention to the details when you are trying to publish your scientific papers. Proofread it again before sending it for publication to make sure there are no typos and to check that the formatting is consistent throughout. For example, if you write names in italics, they should be italicized everywhere, and feel free to use subheadings to wrap your text for better readability.
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