How citation distortions create unfounded authority: analysis of a citation network.
How citation distortions create unfounded authority: analysis of a citation network.
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DOI：
10.1136/bmj.b2680
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发表时间：
2009-07-20
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Greenberg SA
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Greenberg SA
目的通过研究某项科学主张的文献被引情况，了解该科学主张的可信度。设计一个完整的引文网络，收集PubMed收录的所有英文文献，探讨β淀粉样蛋白（β amyloid，一种在阿尔茨海默病（Alzheimer's disease，AD）中积累的蛋白质）是由包涵体肌炎（inclusion body myositis，AM）患者产生并损伤骨骼肌的观点。社会网络理论和图论被用来分析这个网络。主要结果测量引用偏差，放大和发明，以及它们对确定权威的影响。结果该网络包含242篇论文和675篇引文，220 553条引文路径支持这一信念，对反驳或削弱这一信念的论文的引用偏见建立了无根据的权威;放大，没有提供任何数据的论文显着扩大了信念系统;发明的形式，如仅通过引用将假设转化为事实。在美国国立卫生研究院资助并通过《信息自由法》获得的赠款范围内，将这一网络扩展到文本中，表明存在同样的现象，有时被用来证明申请资助是合理的。结论引文既是一种公正的学术方法，也是一种强有力的社会交流形式。通过其社会使用的扭曲，包括偏见，放大和发明，引用可以用来产生信息级联，导致毫无根据的权威索赔。一个特定的引文网络的构建和分析可以澄清一个已发表的信仰体系的性质，并揭露扭曲的社会引用方法。
Objective To understand belief in a specific scientific claim by studying the pattern of citations among papers stating it. Design A complete citation network was constructed from all PubMed indexed English literature papers addressing the belief that β amyloid, a protein accumulated in the brain in Alzheimer’s disease, is produced by and injures skeletal muscle of patients with inclusion body myositis. Social network theory and graph theory were used to analyse this network. Main outcome measures Citation bias, amplification, and invention, and their effects on determining authority. Results The network contained 242 papers and 675 citations addressing the belief, with 220 553 citation paths supporting it. Unfounded authority was established by citation bias against papers that refuted or weakened the belief; amplification, the marked expansion of the belief system by papers presenting no data addressing it; and forms of invention such as the conversion of hypothesis into fact through citation alone. Extension of this network into text within grants funded by the National Institutes of Health and obtained through the Freedom of Information Act showed the same phenomena present and sometimes used to justify requests for funding. Conclusion Citation is both an impartial scholarly method and a powerful form of social communication. Through distortions in its social use that include bias, amplification, and invention, citation can be used to generate information cascades resulting in unfounded authority of claims. Construction and analysis of a claim specific citation network may clarify the nature of a published belief system and expose distorted methods of social citation.