Shortcut citations in the methods section: Frequency, problems, and strategies for responsible reuse

by Kai Standvoss, Vartan Kazezian, Britta R. Lewke, Kathleen Bastian, Shambhavi Chidambaram, Subhi Arafat, Ubai Alsharif, Ana Herrera-Melendez, Anna-Delia Knipper, Bruna M. S. Seco, Nina Nitzan Soto, Orestis Rakitzis, Isa Steinecker, Philipp van Kronenberg Till, Fereshteh Zarebidaki, Parya Abbasi, Tracey L. Weissgerber Methods sections are often missing essential details. Methodological shortcut citations, in which authors cite previous papers instead of describing the method in detail, may contribute to this problem. This meta-research study used 3 approaches to examine shortcut citation use in neuroscience, biology, and psychiatry. First, we assessed current practices in more than 750 papers. More than 90% of papers used shortcut citations. Other common reasons for using citations in the methods included giving credit or specifying what was used (who or what citation) and providing context or a justification (why citation). Next, we reviewed 15 papers to determine what can happen when readers follow shortcut citations to find methodological details. While shortcut citations can be used effectively, they can also deprive readers of essential methodological details. Problems encountered included difficulty identifying or accessing the cited materials, missing or insufficient descriptions of the cited method, and shortcut citation chains. Third, we examined journal policies. Fewer than one quarter of journals had policies describing how authors should report previously descri...
Source: PLoS Biology: Archived Table of Contents - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: research