Taking a close look at the sources you've collected for any bibliography you've created is the first step to determine if there is more that can be done to diversify your citations. Auditing your citations involves trying to determine the identities of the authors you are citing. There is no fail proof way to do this as authors names don't necessarily reflect their gender or racial identity. Additionally, other aspects of identity, such as sexual orientation, (dis)ability status, socioeconomic background, etc. can not be determined by name. Nonetheless, becoming aware of the possible identities of the authors you are citing can be an eye opening experience.
You can use a spreadsheet such the Critical Citation Tracking tool to help you keep track of the information collected, or, if you are using a citation management tool, you can tag your articles with pertinent information. The Manchester Metropolitan University also has great information that you can use to guide you through the process.
To manually audit your citations, try looking up the authors in your bibliography to see if they have a website at their institution, a Google Scholar profile, ResearchGate or LinkedIn, etc.
Below are some tools that can help automate this process.
People in different disciplines have done work to amplify the work of underrepresented scholars, either through professional associations/networks, or by compiling databases of individuals. Below are some resources that can introduce you to the work of researchers you weren't previously aware of!
500 Queer Scientists - A visibility campaign for LGBTQ+ people and their allies working in STEM
500 Women Scientists - Organization that seeks to serve society by making science open, inclusive, and accessible and transform society by fighting racism, patriarchy, and oppressive societal norms. They have a number of different programs/resources including a guide to organizing inclusive scientific meetings, and the gage database a global search platform where people seeking brilliant voices in science can discover women and gender-diverse folks in STEMM.
Advancing Indigenous People in STEM - Organization focused on increasing the representation of Indigenous peoples of North America and the Pacific Islands.
Anti-Colonial Research Library - a collection of open-access articles and books, websites, and YouTube videos on Indigenous and anti-colonial research methodologies.
Canadian Black Scientists Network - CBSN exists to Elevate, make Visible, Celebrate and Connect Black Canadians in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics & Medicine (STEMM) across sectors.
Cite Black Authors - We seek to enhance recognition and citation of black academic voices. Our approach requires a shift from traditional citation practices that are passive and white-centric to active citation practices that both quantify and equilibrate racial representation.
Diverse Sources - Search this database of experts to include more underrepresented voices and perspectives in your science, health and environment work.
Diverse speakers in STEM lists - a list of databases of STEM experts from minoritized groups by field.
Diversify STEM Conferences - a list of prominent underrepresented researchers across every field of STEM and Medicine.
SACNAS Biography Project: Advancing Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science - includes biographies of first person stories by and about Chicano/Hispanic and Native American scientists.
Tahatikonhsontóntie’: Quebec Network Environment for Indigenous Health Research - A space for Indigenous communities, elders, youth, researchers, and knowledge users to unite for health promotion, community-led participatory research, and capacity enhancement. QcNEIHR's Horizontal Approach prioritizes Indigenous self-determination in research, emphasizing relationality and knowledge networks. The QcNEIHR is one of nine Network Environments for Indigenous Health Research (NEIHR).
Most researchers rely on a small number of academic databases for finding scholarly articles - whether it be PubMed for the health sciences, Inspec for engineering, SciFinder for chemistry, or a multidisciplinary tool like Google Scholar. While all of these resources are powerful and useful, they come with their own biases and limitations related to which journals they decide to index.
Some things you can try when searching in a database you are already familiar with:
Expanding the number and variety of places you search is another important step in diversifying your resources.
While many databases include international content, they often exhibit some geographical bias influenced by their location. Below are some databases featuring STEM content outside of North America or Europe.
See also:
Produced by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, provides information on East-Central Europe and the former Soviet Union. Coverage for ABSEES ranges from 1989 to the present.
"Covers aspects related to human health including communicable diseases, tropical diseases, parasitic diseases and parasitology, human nutrition, community and public health, and medicinal and poisonous plants. Includes foreign language journals, books, research reports, patents and standards, dissertations, conference proceedings, annual reports, public health, developing country information, and other difficult to obtain material. 1910 to present."
10 simultaneous users.
Preprint servers are repositories that allow authors to post early versions of a paper ahead of publication. They are well established in some disciplines (such as physics, astronomy, and math) and are becoming more common in all STEM disciplines. Searching pre-print servers allow you to access new research quickly which can impact bibliometrics like citation counts (Fraser, N. et al, 2019).
The preprint servers below are either organized around subject area or geography. You can find additional repositories in the Directory of Open Access Preprint Repositories, the OSFPreprints directory, and the Preprint Citation Index (Web of Science).
| Common challenges | Potential solutions |
|---|---|
| Shouldn't I choose which papers to cite based on the quality of research rather than the authors identity? | Citing good science is always important. Citation justice just asks that people do a bit of extra searching to ensure they aren't missing the good work done by minoritized scientists. The racist and patriarchal history of higher education has lead to inequity in research and publishing opportunities for non-white, non-male scientists. Correcting the resultant imbalance requires intentionality and effort. |
| It's often not possible to tell the authors identity by the information available in the citation... | This is true. Inferring a person's racial or gender identity based their names can be problematic. Determining other identity characteristics such as (dis)ability, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, etc. are impossible without knowing the person in question. When it's not possible to learn about a person's identities from them directly, check out the authors academic profiles (e.g. institutional website, Google Scholar, ResearchGate, etc.). |
| I wasn't able to find a relevant source by a scholar from an underrepresented group... |
|
| This sounds like a lot of extra work that I don't have time for... | Many of the big databases that we use in STEM disciplines have a western, global north bias so diversifying your resources may take a bit of extra time and commitment. Hopefully some of the resources listed above can help get you started. You can also reach out to your subject librarian for some additional help. |
| Why does this matter when racism is systemic in our institutions? |
While it is true that there is so much work to be done towards equity, diversity, and inclusion in our institution, practising citation justice is one way of starting to change the discourse in your discipline. |
| But impact measurements are problematic anyway, so....? |
It's true! Bibliometrics, or impact measurements, are imprecise at best, but it will take time for academics and institutions of higher learning to move away from them entirely. Currently, citation counts continue to be used in hiring and promotion, until that is no longer the case practising citation justice in your research remains important! See the Citations Politics Guide for more information on the responsible use of metrics. When it comes to the classroom context, showing your students that you value the work of diverse scientists can go a long way! |
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