Abstract:
Accurate citation practices are important to ensure a robust knowledge base and overall trustworthy
academic enterprise. The prevalence of poor citation practices has been assessed in
multiple fields, resulting in estimates of inaccurate citations ranging typically between 15%
and 25%. Here, we assessed the accuracy of citations in research articles extracted from 11 journals
with a polar sciences focus. Thirty percent of citations from recent articles (published
between 2018 and 2019) and 26 % of citations between 1980 and 2019 were found to be inaccurate.
We found no evidence for differences in citation accuracy between the journals assessed,
or effects on citation accuracy associated with the number of authors, number of references,
position of references or if a citation was a self-citation or not. Importantly, we present evidence
for a decline in citation accuracy between 1980 and 2019 in polar sciences. Citation practices are
unlikely to improve unless journals provide incentives for scholars to be more meticulous, and
we recommend active monitoring of citation accuracy and citation appropriateness by
reviewers and editorial staff.