Citation Justice

What is citation justice? 

Citation justice or critical citation involves recognizing and acknowledging the intellectual and creative contributions of individuals and groups with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and viewpoints. The goal of critical citation is to address and counteract the existing power imbalances that have historically favored some groups while unfairly disadvantaging and underrepresenting others (Ivins, 2024). 

Why does it matter?

• In many fields of study, the same prominent scholars are perpetually cited, creating an exclusionary cycle towards academics of marginalized communities including women, people of color, and those within the LGBTQ+ community (Craft-Morgan, 2024).

• By disregarding these scholars, the valuable information and perspectives they bring to their research and field is also overlooked. Practicing citation justice yields richer and more comprehensive analyses while crediting scholars whose valuable contributions could go unrecognized or underrecognized (Kwon, 2022).

• Citations justice is not only a matter of credit and recognition. Many colleges and universities take scholarly publication into account when considering a faculty member for tenure and/or promotion. This can include examining the number of times the faculty member’s work is cited (Chenevey, 2023).