ARE WE CITING OUR SOURCES ADEQUATELY?: USE AND NONUSE OF PAGE CITATIONS IN THE GEOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

Page citations allow the reader to track the origin of: 1) a particular fact, concept, or idea; 2) a paraphrase of the work of another; and 3) a phrase, sentence, or longer quotation taken directly from another work. I have examined several 2002–2003 issues of a sample of geological, biological, and multidisciplinary scientific publications, as well as a comparison group of publications in anthropology, history, literature, and law. I have evaluated these titles on their use, or nonuse, of page citations for the above three categories. Virtually all give page citations for quotations (3). But page citations for particular facts, concepts, etc. (1), and paraphrasing (2), are rare in the geological and biological publications, with the exception of paleontological publications in which their use is more frequent, but far from ubiquitous. Anthropology publications use page citations more frequently for all three categories, except for archaeology, where use is mixed. In contrast, history journals and literature journals almost always use citations for 1–3, and law journals are very particular in use of page citations.

Citation of pages for direct quotes, the most used type of page citation, while good to have, is the least needed: Quotes can be found in publications much easier than paraphrased material or facts and concepts. Page citations to particular facts, concepts, and ideas are most needed, as they are not easy to find. Even full-text, automated searches of web publications cannot be used to find concepts, unless the same words are used in the citation as in the original work. Thus usage of page citations in geology and biology for category 3, but not categories 1 and 2, is illogical.

Most students in the United States are trained to write papers in departments of English, where they are taught to use page citations for all three categories. Many English departments require use of the Modern Language Association (MLA) handbook which is explicit in its endorsement of the use of page citations for all three categories of citations. Although students are trained early on (in high school or in the first year of college) to use page citations for all three categories, they tend to stop using them, whether by example, or because of misguided advice, by the time they become publishing geoscientists and biologists.