Cover not available
Part of
Cross-linguistic Correspondences: From lexis to genre
Edited by Thomas Egan and Hildegunn Dirdal
[Studies in Language Companion Series 191] 2017
► pp. 253–270

Chapter 10
Citations in research writing

The interplay of discipline, culture and expertise

| Vilnius University

The paper investigates disciplinary, cultural and genre factors and their influence on citation in research writing. The study is based on literature and linguistics research articles written by Lithuanian and British researchers in their native languages as well as literature and linguistics BA papers written by Lithuanian students in English. The focus of the study is on frequency distribution, syntactic integration and types of citations. The results of the study of research articles confirm clear disciplinary variation in the way citations are employed in research writing. No obvious cultural differences were observed in the analysed expert texts, which points towards discipline as a decisive factor in citational trends in literature and linguistics. Citation trends in linguistic and literature BA papers were similar to a certain extent; however, students who wrote literature papers seem to cite more in the manner of professional writers and thus display more similarity with the conventional citational practices of their field.

Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Data and methods
  • 3.Results and discussion
    • 3.1Frequency distribution of citations
    • 3.2Syntactic integration of citations
    • 3.3Number of citations at one reference point
    • 3.4Types of citations
  • 4.Concluding observations
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 23 November 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.191.10sin
References
Berkenkotter, Carol & Huckin, Thomas
1995 Genre Knowledge in Disciplinary Communication: Cognition/Culture/Power. Hillsdale NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Biber, Douglas
2009 A corpus-driven approach to formulaic language in English: Multi-word patterns in speech and writing. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 14(3): 275–311. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bloveščiūnienė, Lina & Petrauskaitė, Rūta
2013 From bibliographic to full text open access database on Lithuanian studies. ScieCom Info 9(2). [URL]
Bowker, Lynne & Pearson, Jennifer
2002 Working with Specialized Language: A Practical Guide to Using Corpora. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cargill, Margaret & O’Connor, Patrick
2009 Writing Scientific Research Articles: Strategy and Steps. Hoboken NJ: Wiley Blackwell.Google Scholar
Connor, Ulla & Moreno, Ana I.
2005 Tertium comparationis: A vital component in contrastive rhetoric research. In Directions in Applied Linguistics, Paul Bruthiaux, Dwight Atkinson, William G. Eggington, William Grabe & Vaidehi Ramanathan (eds), 153–164. Clevedon: Multilingual MattersGoogle Scholar
Dahl, Trine
2004 Textual metadiscourse in research articles: A marker of national culture or of academic discipline? Journal of Pragmatics 36(10): 1807–1825. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Del Saz Rubio, M. Milagros
2011 A pragmatic approach to the macro-structure and metadiscoursal features of research article introductions in the field of Agricultural Sciences. English for Specific Purposes 30(4): 258–271. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fløttum, Kjersti, Dahl, Trine & Kinn, Torodd
2006 Academic Voices: Across Languages and Disciplines [Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 148]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Garfield, Eugene
1989 The English language: The lingua franca of international science. The Scientist 3(10): 12.Google Scholar
Giannoni, Davide Simone
2002 Worlds of gratitude: A contrastive study of acknowledgment texts in English and Italian research articles. Applied Linguistics 23(1): 1–31. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gilquin, Gaëtanelle, Granger, Sylviane & Paquot, Magali
2007 Learner corpora: The missing link in EAP pedagogy. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 6(4): 319–335. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Harwood, Nigel
2009 An interview-based study of the functions of citations in academic writing across two disciplines. Journal of Pragmatics 41(3): 497–518. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hirano, Eliana
2009 Research article introductions in English for specific purposes: A comparison between Brazilian Portuguese and English. English for Specific Purposes 28(4): 240–250. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hu, Guangwei & Wang, Guihua
2014 Disciplinary and ethnolinguistic influences on citation in research articles. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 14:14–28. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hyland, Ken
1999 Academic attribution: Citation and the construction of disciplinary knowledge. Applied Linguistics 20(3): 341–367. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2003 Dissertation acknowledgements: The anatomy of a Cinderella genre. Written Communication 20(3): 242–268. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2004a Graduates’ gratitude: The generic structure of dissertation acknowledgments. English for Specific Purposes 23(3): 303–324. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2004b A convincing argument: Corpus analysis and academic persuasion. In Discourse in the Professions: Perspectives from Corpus Linguistics [Studies in Corpus Linguistics 16], Ulla Connor & Thomas A. Upton (eds), 87–112. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2005 Metadiscourse: Exploring Interaction in Writing. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
2008a Persuasion, interaction and the construction of knowledge: Representing self and others in research writing. International Journal of English Studies 8(2): 1–23.Google Scholar
2008b As can be seen: Lexical bundles and disciplinary variation. English for Specific Purposes 27(1): 4–21. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2011 Academic discourse. In The Continuum Companion to Discourse Analysis, Ken Hyland & Brian Paltridge (eds), 171–184. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Kanoksilapatham, Budsaba
2005 Rhetorical structure of biochemistry research articles. English for Specific Purposes 24(3): 269–292. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Latour, Bruno
2002[1987] Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Lorés-Sanz, Rosa, Mur Dueñas, Pilar & Lafuente-Millán, Enrique
(eds) 2010 Constructing Interpersonality: Multiple Perspectives on Written Academic Genres. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars.Google Scholar
Mauranen, Anna
1993 Cultural Differences in Academic Rhetoric: A Textlinguistic Study. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Moreno, Ana I.
2008 The importance of comparable corpora in cross-cultural studies. In Contrastive Rhetoric: Reaching to Intercultural Rhetoric [Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 169], Ulla Connor, Ed Nagelhout & William V. Rozycki (eds), 25–41. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mur Dueñas, Pilar
2009 Citation in business management research articles: A contrastive (English–Spanish) corpus-based analysis. In Suomela-Salmi & Dervin (eds), 49–60.Google Scholar
2010 A contrastive analysis of research article introductions in English and Spanish. Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses 61: 119–133.Google Scholar
2011 An intercultural analysis of metadiscourse features in research articles written in English and in Spanish. Journal of Pragmatics 43(12): 3068–3079. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pérez-Llantada, Carmen
2010 The discourse functions of metadiscourse in published academic writing: Issues of culture and language. Nordic Journal of English Studies 9(2): 41–68.Google Scholar
Petrić, Bojana
2007 Rhetorical functions of citations in high- and low-rated master’s theses. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 6(3): 238–253. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sala, Michele
2008 Argumentative styles as cultural identity traits in legal studies. Linguistica e Filologia 27: 93–113.Google Scholar
Samraj, Betty
2002 Introductions in research articles: Variations across disciplines. English for Specific Purposes 21(1): 1–17. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Scott, Mike
2008 WordSmith Tools, version 5. Liverpool: Lexical Analysis Software.Google Scholar
Soler, Viviana
2011 Comparative and contrastive observations on scientific titles written in English and Spanish. English for Specific Purposes 30(2): 124–137. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Suomela-Salmi, Eija & Dervin, Fred
(eds) 2009 Cross-linguistic and Cross-cultural Perspectives on Academic Discourse [Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 193], Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Swales, John M.
1981 Aspects of Article Introductions. Birmingham: University of Aston.Google Scholar
1990 Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Thompson, Paul & Tribble, Christopher
2001 Looking at citations: Using corpora in English for academic purposes. Language Learning and Technology 5(3): 91–105.Google Scholar
Wang, Yan & Bai, Yongquan
2007 A corpus-based syntactic study of medical research article titles. System 35(3): 388–399. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 3 other publications

Dontcheva-Navrátilová, Olga
2018. Chapter 1. A contrastive (English, Czech English, Czech) study of rhetorical functions of citations in Linguistics research articles. In Intercultural Perspectives on Research Writing [AILA Applied Linguistics Series, 18], ► pp. 15 ff. DOI logo
Jürine, Anni, Djuddah Leijen, Helen Hint, Jolanta Sinkuniene, Diāna Laiveniece, Christer Johansson & Nicholas Groom
2021. Academic Writing in the Baltic States. Educare :1 ► pp. 27 ff. DOI logo
Mur-Dueñas, Pilar & Jolanta Šinkūnienė
2018. Introduction. In Intercultural Perspectives on Research Writing [AILA Applied Linguistics Series, 18], ► pp. 2 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 21 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.