Citation in biomedical journal articles

Abstract

To determine how biomedical scientists use the published work of others in their journal articles, the first two references, source articles, were compared to their citing article in seven citation trees containing 49 experimental or descriptive articles. In addition, a group of practicing biomedical scientists was surveyed to discover their perceptions of citation practices. Although five scientists mentioned the use of direct quotation, only two trivial instances, from a single author, were found; paraphrase was limited to three authors; the majority of instances were summary from a single source or generalization from two or more. For journal articles, only the latter two citation types need be taught to novice writers. Because students may be tempted to use others' wording, it may be advisable to teach paraphrase, while taking care not to recommend it. Teachers are advised to acquaint students with a range of ethical questions.

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^* Betty Lou Dubois received her Ph.D. in 1972 from the University of New Mexico Program in Linguistics and Language Pedagogy. Since then she has taught at New Mexico State University, where she is now Professor of Communication Studies, TESOL Coordinator, and head of the MA program. Her major research interest is biomedical communication, both written and spoken, including its sociological aspects.