Earth & Environmental Sciences (Virtual Geosciences Library)

Citation is widely used as a metric for evaluating performance in Western academia. Like other cultural practices, citation is susceptible to biases that reflect and reinforce dominant historical power structures of race, gender, and class. Citation justice is the practice of maintaining an awareness of these biases and actively working to build more inclusive and equitable citation networks. By choosing to cite scholars with varied backgrounds and identities, we intentionally expand the academic conversation, and increase equity and inclusion in our field.

Some suggestions for inclusive citation include:

• Experiment with search terms and sources, and broaden your reading: reading from a range of cultures, races, and other identities can help diversify citations. 
• Audit your citation list. Does it include racialized, female-identified, early-career, or non-academic authors?
• Include a citation diversity statement to increase the transparency of your practice and encourage other scholars to do likewise.

Interested in learning more about citation justice?

• University of Minnesota guide to conducting anti-racist research
• University of Maryland citation justice guide
• Kwon (2022). The rise of citational justice: how scholars are making references fairer. Nature 603(7902): 568-571.
• Mott and Cockayne (2017). Citation matters: mobilizing the politics of citation toward a practice of ‘conscientious engagement.’  Gender, place and culture 24(7): 954-973.