Academic journal tells authors to consider researchers’ race, gender in citations

Nature Reviews Psychology recently published new citation guidelines, urging authors to “demonstrate their commitment to DEI through actions that are not mandated by institutions.”

The journal is asking authors to diversify their citations by “actively” considering the diversity of their sources, not just in terms of academic achievement, but also in relation to researchers’ backgrounds.

The guidelines urge authors to “slow down” and to be well-acquainted with their field by finding a diverse range of researchers that differ in areas such as “gender, race, career stage, and geographical location.”

NRP is also encouraging authors to attach a “citation diversity statement” to their work to draw attention to “citation imbalances” and “confirm that they made efforts to cite publications from a diverse group of researchers.”

The College Fix reached out to NRP to learn more about the citation guideline updates. Michael Stacey, the head of communications, did not respond directly to the questions posed and instead provided the following response:

“A citation diversity statement (CDS) is an optional section that authors may choose to include in their article, review, or book chapter.”

“We believe this option is helpful because it encourages authors to engage with a wider spectrum of relevant research,” Stacey said. 

Papers with diversity statements have been published in 32 different journals, including Nature Machine Intelligence, Nature Biomedical Engineering, Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Nature Neuroscience, and Communications Biology. 

While the use of these statements has been increasing, multiple scholars told The Fix that the practice could undermine the quality of scientific research.

​Elizabeth Weiss, a professor emeritus of anthropology at San Jose State University, told The College Fix via email the new citation diversity practice has “only cons and the cons are many.”

She said it raises questions about “why a minority scholar is being cited — is it due to their diverse background, or because of the quality and credibility of their research?”

Further, Weiss expressed concern that authors might overlook better research because an academic does not meet the requirements of the citation diversity guidelines.

Weiss also said researchers and authors could potentially abuse this practice “in order to boost their citation counts.”

Science progresses through the expansion of previous research, and choosing to prioritize diversity over quality of work could lead to the hindrance of the next generation’s work, she said.

Asked about her approach to finding sources and choosing who to cite, Weiss said​, “I tend to use Google Scholar. The abstract must be well-written.” 

“Then, I look for publications that grab me with well-written hypotheses, easy to follow methodologies, robust sample sizes, good use of statistics, and images that deepen our understanding of the topic,” she said.

“I’ve never considered the author’s race or sex, and I never will!” the professor said.

Similarly, social psychologist and Rutgers University Professor Lee Jussim told The College Fix that citations should be based on scientific relevance rather than diversity.

“If the work is not highly relevant, citing it (for diversity or any other nonscientific purpose) wastes everyone’s time at best, and has the potential to be misleading at worst,” Jussim said.​

Another scholar, Heterodox Academy researcher Erin Shaw, published an article titled “When ‘Diverse Citations’ Replace Diverse Ideas,” criticizing DEI practices in research.

“True intellectual diversity emerges when scholars engage deeply with the best ideas, wherever they originate … not when journals ask researchers to audit the demographics of their bibliographies,” Shaw wrote. 

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