For example, you are a beginning researcher and your university prefers Web of Science as its data source. However, it has very few Web of Science citations but a respectable number of Google Scholar citations. In such cases, it can be argued that Google Scholar citations are a more accurate measure of citation impact for young scholars.
This is true because Google Scholar includes citations in master’s and doctoral theses, conference proceedings, and working papers. In most cases, this will eventually be reflected in the Web of Science citation. Google Scholar also includes books, book chapters, a much broader range of journals than Web of Science, especially in the social sciences and humanities.
Key factors that affect the number of references you use
Here are some of the many factors that can affect the number of references you use:
- The number The number of references an article will need depends a lot on the objective of your work. For example, literature reviews and systematic reviews are reviews of existing studies. Therefore, their reference lists will be more complete than those of research articles whose main focus is the current findings of the authors. In fact, if you review the author guidelines of many journals, you’ll notice that journals have a higher citation limit for review articles than for original research articles.
- The length of your reference list will also depend on the topic of your research paper. For example, if you’re writing about a less-studied area (such as a subfield of neuroparasitology), there may not be many articles to cite. Similarly, there will be fewer articles published in newer areas that can be cited. If you find yourself in this situation, check out the references used by relevant current literature and see if you can broaden your search, and therefore your reference list, with valuable content from there.
- Another factor is the requirements of your institution or journal. If you are preparing a dissertation or thesis, check your department’s requirements. Although they are rare, they may have certain limitations. Journals usually limit the number of references due to printing limitations.
- It may happen that you do not have access to specific documentation that can serve as a reference. In such a situation, you may want to find an institution that can give you access to this literature to review its contents, or contact one of the authors to request a copy directly.
- As more articles than ever are published in most fields, it is likely that reference lists will grow simply because more data and discussion of data is already available for nomination. Be aware of changes in the size of the reference lists in publications related to your field.
- Finally, the length of an article is linked to the number of references.
Obsolete citations
Sources published several years ago may make a limited contribution to the mission. In some cases, the guidelines will state that all sources must be within the last 5 or 10 years, but where there are no guidelines, it may not be prudent to use multiple prior references. References to original and even planned articles are accepted. However, it appears that no additional backreferences will be needed and will not add any significant content.
The number of cited references may also depend on the type of task assigned. A literature review article requires the largest number of references, with all the ideas cited, as well as any subsequent extensions or contradictions of theories. Since the purpose of a literature review is to identify and report a variety of ideas found in various reliable sources, a literature review, or the literature review section of a dissertation, will have the highest reference level. An argumentative essay needs references to support the first ideas presented. However, since the purpose of an argumentative essay is to analyze and critique the ideas presented, with a discussion of different aspects of an argument, fewer sources are needed compared to a literature review, with a higher proportion of content made up of thought. original. and discussion A personal essay may not require references. The essay score can also affect the number of suggested references. For example, graduate students are generally expected to provide more citations supporting more in-depth research than undergraduate students.