A Simple Model of Citation Cartels: When Self-interest Strikes Science

Davide Secchi*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingArticle in proceedingsResearchpeer-review

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Abstract

This paper is an attempt to study a well known (probably little studied) phenomenon in academia: citation cartels. This is the tacit or explicit agreement among authors to cite each other more often than they would do in a more “sincere” approach to science. It can be intended as collusion and it can distort scientific progress in affecting a scholar’s attention. The phenomenon has been around for decades and it does not seem to spare any discipline. By starting from outlining the characteristics of a “cartel,” this study then builds an agent-based model in an attempt to define the extent to which colluding behavior affects progress in a given discipline by operating on citation counts. Data is still preliminary although enough to conclude that cartels promote lax scientific practices.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAdvances in Social Simulation : Proceedings of the 17th Social Simulation Conference, European Social Simulation Association
PublisherSpringer
Publication date2023
Pages23-32
ISBN (Print)978-3-031-34919-5
ISBN (Electronic)978-3-031-34920-1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023
Event17th annual conference of European Social Simulation Association, ESSA 2022 - Milan, Italy
Duration: 12. Sept 202216. Sept 2022

Conference

Conference17th annual conference of European Social Simulation Association, ESSA 2022
Country/TerritoryItaly
CityMilan
Period12/09/202216/09/2022
SeriesSpringer Proceedings in Complexity
ISSN2213-8684

Keywords

  • Agent-based modeling
  • Citation cartels
  • Rigor
  • Scientific distortion

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